Over the past 12 months there have been 20 detections across the Port Macquarie-Hastings region of prescribed restricted substances.
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Prescribed restricted substances are medications which require a prescription to obtain.
The data is relevant to the period from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017 but only represents detections not charges.
“People will sometimes produce a valid prescription for medication at a later date, or analysis of the drug does not prove a prescribed restricted substance,” Mid North Coast Local Area Command crime manager Kim Fehon said.
There were 50 detections of prescribed restricted substances detected in the period April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016.
Detective Inspector Fehon said the two most common types of prescription medications that police deal with are opiate based medications, such as oxycodone and buprenorphine and benzodiazepines such as Diazepam.
“However opiate and benzodiazepines come under a broad range of commercial names,” she said.
Ms Fehon said police will charge people who are in possession of a prescribed restricted substance who do not meet the criteria outlined under section 16 of the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act.
The act states a person shall not have in his or her possession or attempt to obtain possession of a prescribed restricted substance. The exceptions to this are outlined within the act and include medical professionals.
Police also charge people who obtain substances by false representation to an authorised person under Section 12(1) of the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act.
The maximum penalty for an offence relating to a prescribed restricted substance that is an anabolic or androgenic steroidal agent is 20 penalty units or imprisonment for two years, or both.
For an offence relating to a prescribed restricted substance other than an anabolic or androgenic steroidal agent the maximum penalty is 20 penalty units or imprisonment for six months, or both.