The Structure of a Drug-Acquisition Charge
The unlawful acquisition or storage of narcotic drugs, their analogues, precursors or new psychoactive substances is in Georgia a charge built on two norms: Article 260 of the Criminal Code — the basic offence with quantity gradations — and Article 273 — a separate composition for acts committed in a small quantity, restricted to administratively punished or previously convicted persons. Together these two norms create the frame in which consumer-level and small-acquirer cases are heard. A boundary should be noted as well: the scheduling categories and automatic minimums known from the United States system do not exist in Georgian law — the quantity thresholds (small, large, especially large) are determined by a government act, while the Code builds only the sanction ladder; decriminalisation debates do not change the current text.
Article 260 — The Sanction Ladder and the Exception
Under the first part, unlawful acquisition or storage is punished by imprisonment for up to six years. The second part contemplates five aggravating circumstances: a large amount, a group by prior conspiracy, use of an official position, repetition, and a prior conviction under this chapter — from five to eight years. The third part — an especially large amount or an organized group — from eight to twenty years or life imprisonment. The law also provides that for new psychoactive substances the first part applies to any amount, while the quantity aggravations do not extend to them; the chapter applies equally to cannabis and marijuana. The most significant exception is voluntary surrender: liability does not attach to a person who voluntarily hands over the substance, provided the act contains no signs of another crime; voluntary surrender means only such conduct where, before the start of the investigation, the person declares in writing or by any technical means of communication an intention to hand it over and actively assists in its removal.