New laws on drug making equipment
October 2008
Prescribed Equipment Media Release (75kb pdf)
New laws apply from Sunday 19 October 2008 on the possession of items closely linked with illegal drug making and cultivation.
A person, organisation or business will need to provide a legitimate reason for having the items listed below. This includes equipment that has been modified or is being repaired.
A person who is in possession of any these items without a legitimate reason is guilty of an offence. The maximum penalty is $10,000 or imprisonment for 2 years, or both.
Prescribed equipment includes the items listed below as well as any document containing instructions for the manufacture of a controlled drug or the cultivation of a controlled plant.
Under the Act these items are prescribed:
Items that can be used for hydroponic cannabis cultivation:
- metal halide lights, high pressure sodium lights and mercury vapour lights of 400 watts or greater
- ballast boxes
- devices (including control gear, lamp mounts and reflectors) designed to amplify light or heat
- carbon filters designed to filter air within a room, or from 1 area of a building to another or to outside
- cannabis bud or head strippers
- units designed to contain plants and rotate around a light source so that the plants grow hydroponically while being exposed to a consistent degree of light or heat or both
Items that can be used in the manufacture of controlled drugs:
- condensers
- distillation heads
- heating mantle
- rotary evaporators
- heater-stirrers
- mechanical-stirrers
- pressure reaction vessels
- separatory funnels
- buchner flasks
- in-line membrane filters
- reaction vessels
- splash heads
- tube furnaces
- manual or mechanical tablet presses, including parts for such an item
- manual or mechanical encapsulators, including parts for such an item
- an item modified to perform the function of a condenser, distillation head, splash head, pressure reaction vessel or tube furnace
A device comprising a hydraulic compression system and a die that can be used to compress a powdered substance into blocks.
A copy of the Controlled Substances Act 1984 and Controlled Substances (General) Variation Regulations 2008 (including the list of prescribed equipment) can be found on the South Australian Legislation website.
