Australian Capital Territory
Drugs of Dependence Amendment Act 2002
2002 No 12
Contents
	Page
	1	Name of Act	2
	2	Commencement	2
	3	Act amended	2
	4	Section 58	2
	5	Application for approval 
Section 68 (1)	3
	6	Powers of chief health officer
Section 69 (2)	4
	7	New section 75A	4
	8	Conversion of fines to penalty units	4
Schedule 1	Conversion of fines to penalty units	5

Australian Capital Territory

Drugs of Dependence Amendment Act 2002
2002 No 12

An Act to amend the Drugs of Dependence Act 1989 

    
    
Notified under the Legislation Act 2001 on 23 May 2002
(see www.legislation.act.gov.au)

The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory enacts as follows:

1	Name of Act
This Act is the Drugs of Dependence Amendment Act 2002.
2	Commencement
This Act commences on the day after its notification day.
3	Act amended
This Act amends the Drugs of Dependence Act 1989.
4	Section 58
substitute
58	Prescribing drugs of dependence
	(1)	A doctor must not prescribe a drug of dependence unless it is for the treatment of a person’s mental or physical condition.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units, imprisonment for 1 year or both.
	(2)	Subsection (1) does not apply to the prescription of methadone or buprenorphine in accordance with section 59.
	(3)	A doctor must not, without the chief health officer’s approval, prescribe a drug of dependence for the treatment of a person if the doctor believes, on reasonable grounds, the person is—
	(a)	a drug dependent person in relation to any drug of dependence or prohibited substance; or
	(b)	a person who has used a drug of dependence continuously for longer than 2 months, or for periods that, taken together, are longer than 2 months.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units, imprisonment for 1 year or both.
	(4)	Despite subsection (3) (a), a doctor may prescribe a drug of dependence for a drug dependent person without the chief health officer’s approval if—
	(a)	the doctor is satisfied that the person needs the drug in a course of treatment as an in-patient in a hospital; and
	(b)	the prescription is to be for the use of the drug for a period of not longer than 14 days after the day of the person’s admission as an in-patient.
	(5)	A doctor must not prescribe an amphetamine without the chief health officer’s approval.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units, imprisonment for 1 year or both.
	(6)	However, a doctor may, without the chief health officer’s approval, prescribe an amphetamine to a person if—
	(a)	the doctor believes on reasonable grounds that the person is not a person mentioned in subsection (3) (a) or (b); and
	(b)	the doctor believes on reasonable grounds that the person is suffering from narcolepsy or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; and
	(c)	the prescription is for the use of the amphetamine for a period no longer than 2 months.
5	Application for approval 
Section 68 (1)
omit
under this division shall
substitute
to prescribe a drug of dependence under division 6.2 (Prescriptions) must—
6	Powers of chief health officer
Section 69 (2)
omit everything before paragraph (a)
substitute
	(2)	If an application is made to the chief health officer for an approval for section 58 (3)—
7	New section 75A
insert
75A	Validation of chief health officer’s approvals
	(1)	An approval by the chief health officer for a doctor to prescribe a drug of dependence given before the commencement of this section is not invalid only because of a failure to comply with this division.
	(2)	This section expires on the day it commences.
Note	The repeal or expiry of a law does not end any validating effect that it may have.  See Legislation Act 2001, s 82 (def of repeal) and s 88.
8	Conversion of fines to penalty units
The Act is further amended as set out in schedule 1.

Schedule 1	Conversion of fines to penalty units
(see s 8)
column 1
item	column 2
section	column 3
penalty ($)

omit	column 4
penalty (penalty units)
substitute	
1		8 (2)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
2		9 (2)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
3		12	$2 000	20 penalty units	
4		15	$10 000	100 penalty units	
5		16 (2)	$10 000	100 penalty units	
6		17	$2 000	20 penalty units	
7		22 (2)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
8		23 (1)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
9		23 (2)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
10		26	$2 000	20 penalty units	
11		29	$10 000	100 penalty units	
12		30	$2 000	20 penalty units	
13		35 (2)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
14		40	$2 000	20 penalty units	
15		45 (2)	$1 000	10 penalty units	
16		46 (1)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
17		51	$1 000	10 penalty units	
18		53	$10 000	100 penalty units	
19		54	$5 000	50 penalty units	
20		55 (1)	$5 000	50 penalty units	
21		55 (2)	$5 000	50 penalty units	
22		57	$2 000	20 penalty units	
23		60 (2)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
24		61	$2 000	20 penalty units	
25		62	$2 000	20 penalty units	
26		63 (2)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
27		64	$2 000	20 penalty units	
28		77	$2 000	20 penalty units	
29		78	$2 000	20 penalty units	
30		79	$2 000	20 penalty units	
31		80	$2 000	20 penalty units	
32		81	$2 000	20 penalty units	
33		82	$2 000	20 penalty units	
34		83	$5 000	50 penalty units	
35		84 (2)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
36		91	$1 000	10 penalty units	
37		92	$1 000	10 penalty units	
38		94	$1 000	10 penalty units	
39		96	$2 000	20 penalty units	
40		97	$2 000	20 penalty units	
41		98	$2 000	20 penalty units	
42		99	$2 000	20 penalty units	
43		100	$2 000	20 penalty units	
44		101 (1)	$5 000	50 penalty units	
45		102	$1 000	10 penalty units	
46		103	$2 000	20 penalty units	
47		104	$1 000	10 penalty units	
48		105	$1 000	10 penalty units	
49		106	$2 000	20 penalty units	
50		107	$2 000	20 penalty units	
51		108	$1 000	10 penalty units	
52		109 (1)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
53		109 (2)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
54		109 (3)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
55		111 (1)	$10 000	100 penalty units	
56		111 (2)	$10 000	100 penalty units	
57		111 (4)	$10 000	100 penalty units	
58		112 (1)	$5 000	50 penalty units	
59		112 (3)	$5 000	50 penalty units	
60		113	$5 000	50 penalty units	
61		114 (1)	$5 000	50 penalty units	
62		114 (2)	$5 000	50 penalty units	
63		115	$5 000	50 penalty units	
64		116 (1)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
65		116 (2)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
66		117	$2 000	20 penalty units	
67		118	$2 000	20 penalty units	
68		119	$2 000	20 penalty units	
69		120 (1)	$2 000	20 penalty units	
70		159	$2 000	20 penalty units	
71		161 (1)	$20 000	200 penalty units	
72		161 (2)	$20 000	200 penalty units	
73		162 (2)	$100	1 penalty unit	
74		162 (2)	$5 000	50 penalty units	
75		162 (3)	$20 000	200 penalty units	
76		162 (3)	$100 000	1 000 penalty units	
77		162 (3)	$10 000	100 penalty units	
78		162 (3)	$5 000	50 penalty units	
79		163 (1)	$20 000	200 penalty units	
80		163 (2)	$20 000	200 penalty units	
81		164 (2)	$100 000	1 000 penalty units	
82		164 (2)	$10 000	100 penalty units	
83		164 (3)	$100 000	1 000 penalty units	
84		164 (3)	$10 000	100 penalty units	
85		165 (1)	$200 000	2 000 penalty units	
86		165 (1)	$10 000	100 penalty units	
87		165 (1)	$5 000	50 penalty units	
88		166 (1)	$5 000	50 penalty units	
89		167	$5 000	50 penalty units	
90		168	$5 000	50 penalty units	
91		169	$5 000	50 penalty units	
92		171 (1)	$100	1 penalty unit	
93		171 (1)	$5 000	50 penalty units	
94		171 (2)	$5 000	50 penalty units	
95		171 (3)	$5 000	50 penalty units	
96		175 (4)	$100	1 penalty unit	
97		176 (4)	$100	1 penalty unit	
98		177	$10 000	100 penalty units	
99		181	$1 000	10 penalty units	
100		201 (2)	$5 000	50 penalty units	

Endnotes
Republications of amended laws
1	For the latest republication of amended laws, see www.legislation.act.gov.au.
Penalty units
2	The Legislation Act 2001, s 133 (Penalty units) deals with the meaning of offence penalties that are expressed in penalty units.

[Presentation speech made in Assembly on 7 March 2002]

I certify that the above is a true copy of the Drugs of Dependence Amendment Bill 2002 which was passed by the Legislative Assembly on 14 May 2002.

					Clerk of the Legislative Assembly

© Australian Capital Territory 2002