ABSTRACT
Section 58A of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 will enable the court to make a drug abstinence order against an offender aged 18 or over. The order requires the offender to abstain from misusing specified Class A drugs and to provide samples for the purpose of ascertaining whether he has any specified Class A drug in his body. The court cannot make a drug abstinence order unless satisfied that the offender is dependent on (or has a propensity to misuse) specified Class A drugs and either the offence in question is a trigger offence (as defined in Sched 5 of the Bill) or else the misuse by the offender of any specified Class A drug caused or contributed to the offence of which he has been convicted.
