Quantity determination lies at the technical heart of drug prosecution. The gross weight of the seized substance, its net weight after deducting the packaging weight, and the amount of active (pure) substance determined by the criminal/forensic chemistry report are evaluated separately.
Gross - Net - Active Ingredient Separation
- Gross weight: Weight measured with packaging. It is insufficient to determine the nature of a crime on its own.
- Net weight: Weight after packaging is removed.
- Amount of active ingredient (purity): Diacetylmorphine in heroin, cocaine hydrochloride in cocaine, THC rate in marijuana; Purity is expressed in %. It is determined by a criminal report.
The Role of Amount in Determining the Penalty
TCK Article 188 is a crime with a high lower limit; The amount is decisive in determining the basic penalty. When determining the punishment in accordance with Article 61 of the Turkish Penal Code, the judge takes into account the criteria "the way the crime was committed, the importance and value of the property subject to the crime, the severity of the damage and danger caused". In drug crimes, these criteria largely depend on the quantity and amount of active substance.
Supreme Court 10th CD and CGK Principle
The 10th CD and Penal General Assembly of the Supreme Court of Appeals consistently states that a penalty cannot be assessed without evaluating the "net amount and purity degree" together, that an additional report must be taken in case the criminal report is insufficient, and that a small amount of a substance with high purity and a large amount of a substance with low purity cannot be subject to the same penalty.
Total Active Substance — "Threshold" Approach
There are some guiding thresholds established in the Supreme Court jurisprudence: approaching the upper limit of punishment for very high amounts of pure heroin/cocaine, and approaching the lower limit for low amounts of marijuana. However, these thresholds are not rules but criteria that guide the judge's discretion; In the concrete case, conditions such as organization, child, border crossing may work contrary to discretion.
Critical Points for Defense
Since incomplete or contradictory quantity determination directly affects the penalty determination, drug crimes lawyer should request an expert/additional report at the beginning of the file.