UK - making drugs for your own use, no profit at all

[saloufas]

lets say someone makes some drugs for his own use. his personal life and bank accounts show that he is not making money off them, and he is in fact have lots of unsettled bills.
and that guy gets busted while making meth, or coke. is he in deep shit?

[ponehacker]

Though I have no idea what the legal system is like on your side of the pond, I would be inclined to believe that the "money making" factor would have little bearing(if any) on this situation. In certain states here in the US of A, the criminal charge for selling marijuana, for example, is Delivery of THC. It is expressly noted in the statute concerning this that no money needs to be exchanged for this to apply, meaning you could give the drugs away as a gift and it would be treated exactly the same as if you sold them for x amount of money.

Now think about why the manufacture of the substances you mentioned is illegal. Certain factors aren't dispelled just because you aren't selling/making money off of the drugs you are producing - I can just imagine the look on the judge's face when you say "but I wasn't making any money and/or selling the drugs" in defense of your nefarious actions after blowing up an apartment complex or burning down your house....not to mention if someone is injured or dies as a result.

I could ramble on forever. Simple answer to your question is yes here in the states you'd be in deep shit either way. My guess is that it's pretty much the same over there but better ask someone that is not ignorant to the laws of your country like I am. Lets hope some UK'ers post replies.

L8R

[saloufas]

well, isnt the possession, and intend to distribute different things?
would it be down to the quantity?

[Pondlife]

My understanding is that small quantities and non-commercial production are not a defence, but are mitigating factors when it comes to decide sentence.

For Class A drugs like cocaine and meth, the guidelines for production is to commit to crown court, because the magistrate's sentencing powers are not sufficient.

The attachment shows the guidelines for Class A production from the bench book.

[Nucking Futs]

http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47120

Look into this for some help. If you are producing Class As for yourself,The Queen or god him self the laws of the land will apply to you.

Regards,

ME.

[Evil GIR]

Youd get busted for manufactor of a class A drug and I guess they would autmaticaly add with intent to supply. They tried to get swim for mescaline, production but they didnt have the evidence.

[FuBai]

Production for personal use with no intent to supply will tend to carry a lesser punishment than commercial manufacture, but both will are covered by the same law. As Pondlife said, you are indicating mitigating factors not get-out clauses and could, de jure, still be subject to the same punishment as a large scale commercial manufacturer, all though the de facto situation is that you will not be the first person to have done this and there is likley to already be a large body of precedent from which a rough prediction of your punishment could be gleaned. When you look at the list provided by Pondlife you will see the two columns of aggravating and mitigating factors, and whilst the facts that you were not supplying nor on a large scale may mitigate, manufacture of Methamphetamine, to the best of my knowledge, is not very safe and buildings regularly explode in the States because of this. A good prosecution lawyer will use that as an aggravating factor.

[heroin_ed]

If one was making drugs for his own use and not selling it, the cops would probably never find out, unless one was a dummy and told everybody. "HEY GUYS I'M MAKING DRUGS IN MY HOUSE!"

Cops find labs because they catch people with drugs and offer lesser sentences if the offender squeals. Seriously, I have a friend who lives in a suburb of Detroit and his friend got his ecstasy possession charges dropped for providing information that led to the arrest of a much bigger offender.