Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, s 5(3)

Possession with intent to supply

The statutory wording, points to prove, defences and penalty — verified against legislation.gov.uk (current revised versions, July 2026).

What the law says

Subject to section 28 of this Act, it is an offence for a person to have a controlled drug in his possession, whether lawfully or not, with intent to supply it to another in contravention of section 4(1) of this Act.

CJS codes
Official CJS offence index (March 2026)
—Charged under the specific underlying offence code.

Points to prove

  • 1. possesses
  • 2. [name of drug]/an unspecified controlled drug of class A/B/C
  • 3. with intent to supply

Defences

  • No specific standalone defence was extracted from the source text; consider any applicable statutory defence, reasonable excuse, lawful authority, self-defence, necessity, consent, identification challenge, or other common-law defence on the facts.

Mode of trial & maximum penalty

Either way — Summary: Class A: 6/12 months' imprisonment and/or a fine; Class B: 6/12 months' imprisonment and/or a fine; Class C: 3 months' imprisonment and/or a level 4 fine; Indictment: Class A: Life imprisonment and/or a fine; Class B: 14 years' imprisonment and/or a fine; Class C: 14 years' imprisonment and/or a fine

Reference only — verify against current legislation and force policy before charge. Spotted an error? Tell us.

Sources

  • Verified dataset — legislation.gov.uk (current revised versions)

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