What is Cultivating a Prohibited Plant
It is a criminal offence to cultivate certain plants that can be used to produce prohibited substances, such as magic mushrooms or cannabis. You could be found guilty of cultivating a prohibited plant if you:
- Have a prohibited plant in your possession
- Cultivate a prohibited plan or take part in the cultivation of a prohibited plant knowingly. This can include something as simple as watering, even if the plant is not yours and not kept on your property
- Supply or knowingly take part in the supply of a prohibited plant
The penalty you can expect to receive if you are found guilty of cultivating prohibited plants depends on the quantity that is found.
The plants don’t have to all be on the same site to be included – the charges will take into account the total number of plants if they are spread around multiple sites.
Penalties for cultivate prohibited plant offences vary depending on the number of plants, what type of plants they are, and whether you are dealing with the district or local court.
The quantity categories for this offence are:
- Small quantity – five plants
- Indictable quantity – 50 plants
- Commercial quantity – 250 plants
- Large commercial quantity – 1,000 plants
The maximum penalties for cultivating a prohibited plant are:
|
Quantity Category |
Local Court |
District Court |
|
Not more than Small Quantity |
2 years prison |
10 years prison |
|
More than Small Quantity but |
2 years prison |
10 years prison |
|
More than Indictable Quantity but |
2 years prison |
10 years prison |
|
Not less than Commercial Quantity but not more than Large Commercial Quantity |
Not Applicable |
15 years prison |
|
Not less than Large Commercial Quantity |
Not Applicable |
20 years prison |