What happens if you're found with illegal drugs?

You may be charged with possessing an illegal substance if you’re caught with drugs, even if they're not yours.

When it comes to possession for personal use, the police may be able to steer you away from the criminal justice system (keep you out of court), especially if you’re under 18. In practice, they’ll choose from the following range of options:

• Refer you to Youth Services if you’re under 18, who will then decide how to deal with the matter.
• Give you a ‘community resolution’, which might involve you doing an educational course on drugs and their anti-social effects and doing a period of unpaid work). You won’t get a criminal record, but it will show up on an enhanced DBS check.
• Issue a ‘deferred prosecution’, which is a 16-week educational programme designed to divert you away from using drugs. If you don’t fully comply with the programme, you’ll go to court for the original offence.
• Give you a conditional caution, which involves you doing any or more than one of the following: a rehabilitation course relevant to using cannabis and its anti-social effects, having to do unpaid work, or attending an educational session. If you don’t fully comply with the programme, you’ll go to court for the original offence. 

The options may vary depending on your age, where you live and whether you’ve committed drug or other offences in the past.

A persistent offender will be prosecuted.

If you’re under 18, the police are allowed to tell your parents or carers. 

Dealing or supplying drugs

The penalty is likely to be more severe if you’re supplying drugs, which includes dealing, selling or sharing. This offence is too serious for most or all of the out-of-court options described above.

The police or the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will probably charge you if they suspect you of supplying drugs. Your penalty will depend on the amount of drugs found and whether you already have a criminal record.

Drugs and driving

It’s illegal to drive under these circumstances:

• You're unfit to do so because you’re under the influence of legal or illegal drugs
• You have certain levels of illegal drugs in your blood (even if they haven’t affected your driving).

Legal drugs are those specifically prescribed to you by a GP, or over-the-counter medicines. If you’re taking them and not sure if you should drive, talk to your doctor, pharmacist or healthcare professional.

The police can stop you and make you do a ‘field impairment assessment’ if they think you’ve taken drugs, including asking you to walk in a straight line. The police can also use a roadside drug kit to screen for cannabis and cocaine.

If the police think you’re unfit to drive because you’ve taken drugs, you’ll be arrested and will have to take a blood or urine test at a police station.

You could be charged with a crime if the test shows you’ve taken drugs. The penalties include a driving ban, a large fine, or even imprisonment.

A conviction for drug driving also means your car insurance costs will increase significantly and if you drive for work, your employer will see your conviction on your licence.

What happens when you're stopped by the police?

The police have the power to stop and search you if an officer has reasonable grounds to believe that you've been involved in a crime or think that you are in possession of a prohibited item. Prohibited items include drugs, weapons and stolen property. Depending on what the police find on you during a search, you could be arrested.

What can happen during a police search?

The officer can only require a person to remove outer clothing in public e.g. a coat, jacket, gloves. They can put their hand inside your shoes, socks or headgear if they believe something is hidden. They will ask you to turn your pockets inside out, or they will pat these items down.

If they want you to remove any other items of clothing, this is either called a ‘more thorough search’ (e.g. removing a jumper or tee shirt) or a ‘strip search’, which involves the removal of all clothing.

A more thorough search can take place in the back of a police van or somewhere else that is out of public view. A strip search can only take place in a police station or a designated area like a police tent.

A strip search must be done out of public view and by an officer of the same sex, without any officer of the opposite sex able to see. If you are 17 years old or under, a strip search can only take place in the presence of an appropriate adult.

Tips for helping you deal with a stop and search

• Keep calm
• Be polite
• Ask questions about what will happen
• Ask for written proof of the search and ensure that this has been completed honestly
• You have the right to film the search, but you must ask permission to do so before reaching for your smart phone
• Be informed, i.e. know your rights.