Page 37 - Door Supervision Training Booklet

Offences
The 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act lists a whole range of different drugs offences that can be committed by various people in the chain. It is important for door supervisors to have a very basic knowledge of these, so that they understand what offences can be committed and by whom, and to know how to act in drug related incidents.
Unlawful Possession (Section 5)
It is an offence for a person unlawfully to have a controlled drug in his possession.
Sentences: -
Class A - up to 7 years imprisonment and/or a fine, or both (indictable) Class B - up to 5 years imprisonment and/or a fine, or both (indicttable) Class C - up to 2 years imprisonment and/or a fine, or both
Because of the sentences involved, the unlawful possession of Class A and B drugs are indicttable offences, but not for Class C.
This offence covers people who are found actually in possession of drugs, even in small amounts for their own personal use.
If, for example, you search a customer at the door as a condition of entry, and find a small magazine wrap of a brown powder in their wallet, then you would certainly have reasonable grounds to suspect that the powder was heroin. Heroin is a class A drug, and the unlawful possession of it is an arrestable offence, so you would have the power to seize the wrap, detain (arrest) the customer, and call the police. If the substance was, after proper examination by the police, found to be heroin, then the person found with it could be charged with being in unlawful possession of a class A controlled drug. (You also have the option of seizing the suspected drugs, refusing entry to the customer, and securing the items as per local house/company policy.
Whenever the police arrest people for this offence themselves, the suspected drugs are sent off to a forensic laboratory for proper testing. Police officers are not authorised to say whether substances or tablets are controlled drugs or not, and obviously nor can door supervisors. As long as you have reasonable grounds to suspect, because of the appearance of the substance/tablets, or because of the way it is packaged or being carried/hidden etc., then you have the power to arrest. The police, once they have taken the person and the substance from you, will carry out the examination and investigation, and they will charge the person if there is sufficient evidence.
A door supervisor would not be guilty of the possession of drugs he had seized from a customer, or found on the premises, provided that he does so for one of the two following reasons: -
1. That believing them to be controlled drugs he took possession of them to prevent another person (the customer) from committing or continuing to commit an offence, and that as soon as he could he took appropriate steps to either destroy the drugs or hand them over to someone entitled to take custody of them (the police);
Or
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