Vol. 488 No. 7
361 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the price per weight of drugs including cannabis, heroin, cocaine etc. that will be used to determine whether an amount of drugs has a value of more than £10,000. [7272/98]
I assume the question arises in the context of the provisions of the Criminal Justice (No. 2) Bill, 1997 which is currently awaiting Report Stage in the Seanad.
Section 4 creates a new offence relating to possession of drugs with a value of £10,000 or more.
It will be a matter for a court to decide on the basis of the evidence before it whether, in accordance with the definition of the new offence contained in the Bill, "at any time while the drug or drugs are in the person's possession the market value of the controlled drug or the aggregate of the market values of the controlled drugs, as the case may be, amounts to £10,000 or more".
"Market value" in relation to a controlled drug is defined as "the price that drug could be expected to fetch on the market for the unlawful sale or supply of controlled drugs". The section also provides that:
If the court is satisfied that a member of the Garda Síochána or an officer of customs and excise has knowledge of the unlawful sale or supply of controlled drugs, that member or officer, as the case may be, shall be entitled in any proceedings for an offence under this section to be heard and to give evidence as to——
(a) the market value of the controlled drug concerned, or
(b) the aggregate of the market values of the controlled drugs concerned.
In the circumstances the Deputy will appreciate that the issue of my indicating the price per weight of drugs in the context of the Bill does not arise.
