(Slide 58) Under the Misuse of Drugs Act "to possess" includes to control or have dominion over, or to have the order or disposition of a thing.

(Slide 57) There are four parts or elements to the charge of possession of methylamphetamine with intent to sell or supply. First you must be satisfied that the accused had in his possession the drugs. Second you must be satisfied that the drug was methylamphetamine. The third element of which you must be satisfied is that methylamphetamine is a prohibited drug. The final element is that the accused was in possession of the methylamphetamine with intent to sell or supply it to another. Let us consider each of these elements in turn.

At law the concept of possession includes two parts one physical and the other mental. (Slide 59) You must be satisfied that the accused had physical possession in the sense of control or dominion or the order or disposition of the drugs and you must be satisfied that he had guilty knowledge, that he knew he had the drugs and that they were drugs. He need not know the precise variety or quantity of the prohibited drugs but he must know that he had control or dominion over prohibited drugs.

Possession is a concept which is itself much more extensive than that of physical custody. It is wide enough to include any case where the person alleged to be in possession has hidden the thing effectively so that he can take it into his physical custody when he wishes and where others are unlikely to discover it except by accident. What is involved in that is that before a person can be found to be in possession of the hidden thing, it must be proved that he had hidden it or that he was in some way a party to its hiding and that he had hidden it or been a party to it so that he could take it into his physical custody when he wished to do so.

… So possession, quite simply involves the physical element – controlling or having dominion over the drugs and the mental element – knowing what you have is a prohibited drug.

(Slide 60) It is also important to realise that possession is different from ownership. More than one person could have possession of the same drugs at the same time. Joint possession is dependant on joint control. Two persons if acting together can have possession of the same drugs at the same time. Mere knowledge that another person has drugs in his possession is not enough. But if both put the drugs in a safe place for safe keeping or are party to putting the drugs in that place and both exercise control over the drugs and have the requisite guilty knowledge then each can be found to be in possession of the drugs. That would happen if, for example, a person who had drugs kept those drugs at another persons house with the permission of the home owner. Each of those persons would then have the physical custody or control of the drugs and each would know that he or she had the drugs. Each would then be in possession of the drugs.

Intent is a mental element. It cannot be proved directly. It can only be proved by inference taking into account all the circumstances as you find them to be. For the purpose of proving intent to sell or supply drugs when persons are found in possession of substantial quantities of drugs the legislature has made a special provision which is meant to assist you in proof of intent. (Slide 61) Section 11 of the Misuse of Drugs Act provides a person shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to have in his possession a prohibited drug with intent to sell or supply it to another if he has in possession a quantity of the prohibited drug which for methylamphetamine is not less than 2 grams.

This means that if you were satisfied that the accused had in his possession more than 2 grams of methylamphetamine then that is proof beyond reasonable doubt of an intent to sell or supply the drugs to another.

But section 11 contains the words "unless the contrary is proved" because of those words this is how the law requires you to proceed. (Slide 62) If you are satisfied the accused was in possession of more than 2 grams of methylamphetamine then that is proof beyond reasonable doubt of an intention to sell or supply the drug to another;