Section 7: Possession of a psychoactive substance with intent to supply
This section provides for an offence of possession with intent to supply psychoactive substances. The conduct element of the offence is satisfied if the defendant is in possession of a psychoactive substance with a view to supplying it to another person for consumption. There are two mental elements of the offence. First, the defendant must know or suspect that the substance is a psychoactive substance. The second mental element is that the defendant must intend to supply the psychoactive substance to another person for its psychoactive effects. Inadvertently dropping a packet containing a psychoactive substance on the street which is then picked up by another person would not be caught by the offence. It is immaterial whether the psychoactive substance that is intended to be supplied is to be consumed by the immediate intended recipient or by a third person. Accordingly, the offence would be committed if the intended supply was to a go-between who then proposed to pass the substance on to a third person.
	Whilst this is a possession offence, it is aimed at those in the supply chain. Simple possession of a psychoactive substance for personal use would not be caught by this offence and is only criminalised by the Act when it occurs in a custodial institution (section 9). The offence in this section would, however, cover social supply - that is, circumstances where a person acquires a psychoactive substance on behalf of a group of friends and then supplies the substance to those friends.
	This offence does not apply where the possession with intent to supply is covered by an exemption provided for in regulations made under section 11 (subsection (2)).