TOUGH NEW PENALTIES COULD SEE TRAFFICKERS JAILED FOR LIFE

Steroids 'hard drugs'

Traffickers in anabolic steroids should receive the same penalties as
people who push heroin, cocaine and Ecstasy, according to a new report
into hard drugs.

The Model Criminal Code report on serious drug offences, to be released
today, has also recommended tough new penalties of up to life
imprisonment for drug traffickers.

It found the trade in illicit steroids was flourishing, especially among
teenage boys. It said boys - along with athletes, body builders and
security guards - were increasingly seeking to enhance their physical
appearance and sporting performances.

But the report found the risks involved with steroid use were compounded
by the uncertainty of the dosage and effect of these products.

"These substances have the same potential for criminal profit and the
development of black market structures as any other drug for which
demand is high," the report says. "There are therefore persuasive
arguments for subjecting the illicit trade to the same controls and
penalties."

The Justice Minister, Senator Vanstone, said yesterday the report would
he subject to consultation with the States before it could be made law.

The report recommends tough new uniform penalties nationwide.

For example, it says traffickers of a large commercial quantity of hard
drugs or more than 750g of heroin should be sentenced to life
imprisonment. And traffickers of a commercial quantity, which would be
around 25g of heroin, would receive 20 years' jail and a small amount,
or three grams, of pure heroin would call for a 10-year sentence.

The same penalties are proposed for the manufacturing and cultivation of
hard drugs which, under the recommendations, would include enabolic
steroids.

"Reports in the media and from police sources indicate that there is a
flourishing illicit national and international trade in veterinary
steroid drugs which are re-packaged and sold for human consumption," the
report says.

Other recommendations include:

INTRODUCING national uniform laws in relation to cannabis including
limiting the number of cannabis plants allowed for personal use to five.

PENALTIES for trafficking in cannabis would be reduced for any quantity
short of a commercial quantity.

MAXIMUM penalty for trafficking in cannabis to be 10 years'
imprisonment.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst