Personal Safety and Wellbeing Session 4 Drugs Awareness City of Wolverhampton College Multifaith Chaplaincy and Student Wellbeing Personal Safety and Wellbeing Session 4 Drugs Awareness

Stay Safe Stay Healthy Drugs: Main classes of illegal drugs Class A The following drugs are deemed Class A drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act: Ecstasy LSD Heroin Cocaine Crack Cocaine Magic Mushrooms Methadone Meth Amphetamine (Crystal Meth) Any Class B drug, e.g. amphetamine, if prepared for injection

Stay Safe Stay Healthy Drugs: Main classes of illegal drugs Class B The following drugs are deemed Class B drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act: Amphetamines Cannabis Codeine Methylphenidate (Ritalin) Pholcodine

Stay Safe Stay Healthy Drugs: Main classes of illegal drugs Class C The following drugs are deemed Class C drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act: Tranquilisers Some painkillers Gamma Hydroxbutyrate (GHB) Ketamine

Stay Safe Stay Healthy Drugs:What are the offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act? Offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act can include the following: Possession of a controlled substance Possession with intent to supply Production cultivation or manufacture of controlled substances Supplying another person with a controlled substance Offering to supply another person with a controlled substance Import or export of controlled drugs Allowing premises you occupy or manage to be used for the consumption of certain controlled substances.  This includes only the smoking of cannabis or opium and does not extend to the use of other controlled substances Allowing premises you occupy or manage to be used for the supply or production of any controlled substance or substances

Stay Safe Stay Healthy Drugs: What is meant by Possession? A person will be charged with this offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act if they have the controlled substance in their physical possession, for example in their pocket, or they have control over them without permission to do so.  In the case of certain medical drugs an individual would need a prescription to prove they had the requisite permission.  An individual could be charged with the following: Possession – knowingly having it on your person Joint Possession – owning drugs with various other people Past Possession – previously in possession of a controlled substance.  This can used if an individual threw away the controlled substance which was subsequently found by the police. For possession to be proven there is no consideration regarding the amount of the drug, all that needs to be proven is that the individual had the controlled drug in their possession and that they were aware of having it in their possession.

Stay Safe Stay Healthy Drugs:What is meant by supply? Simply providing the controlled substance to another individual would fall under the offence of supply under the Misuse of Drugs Act.  A common misconception is that money is required to change hands for it to be considered supply.  This is not the case, simply giving it to another person will be construed as supplying it.  It could be a gift with no money involved at all – a sale of the drug does not have to take place in order for an offence to be committed. Another common misconception in relation to supply is that it relates to the amount of drug supplied.  Simply supplying any small amount to another person will be considered supply under the act and receive the requisite charge. For these reasons supply is the most common offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Stay Safe Stay Healthy Drugs: What is meant by Possession with intent to supply? This offence is where someone is found with a controlled substance in their possession and it is deemed that it is not for their personal use but will be supplied to others. Another misconception is that possession with intent to supply depends purely on the amount of the controlled substance in the person’s possession but there is not a definition within the Misuse of Drugs Act which specifies that this is the case.   Often when an individual is caught with a substantial amount of the controlled substance in their possession the police will infer that they intended supply.  Another indicator that is used for possession with intent to supply is whether the larger amount is split up into smaller amounts.  This would suggest supply.  This is however left up to the discretion of the police involved to establish.

Stay Safe Stay Healthy Drugs: Production and cultivation What is meant by production of a controlled substance? Manufacture of a controlled substance without a license is an offence under the Act and includes the cultivation of cannabis plants.

Stay Safe Stay Healthy Drugs: Will I get a Prison Sentence ? Offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act carry both prison sentences and fines depending on the class of drug and particular offence. Class A For possession an individual will receive up to seven years imprisonment or an unlimited fine or is some cases both.  For supply an individual may receive up to a sentence of life imprisonment or an unlimited fine or in some cases both. Class B For possession an individual will receive up to five years imprisonment or an unlimited fine or in some cases both.  For supply an individual will receive up to 14 years imprisonment or an unlimited fine or in some cases both. Class C For possession an individual will receive up to two years imprisonment or an unlimited fine or in some cases both.  For supply an individual will receive up to 14 years imprisonment or an unlimited fine or in some cases both.

Stay Safe Stay Healthy Drugs ARE DANGEROUS! They cause huge health risks Screw up friendships working relationships and family life Eat into your cash and leave you in debt Cause you to feel like a dogs breakfast

Stay Safe Stay Healthy Drugs Give you depressing come downs Make it difficult to have sex Cause you to babble on like a fool! Get you into trouble at work or College And possibly Kill you STILL WANT TO DO DRUGS???????