s 34 Possession, etc., of drugs or psychoactive substances
34.—(1) Every person subject to military law who has in his or her possession, smokes, administers to himself or herself or otherwise consumes any controlled drug, psychoactive substance or specified psychoactive substance shall, unless authorised by such law in that regard, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or any less punishment authorised by this Act.[Act 12 of 2023 wef 01/06/2024] [Act 9 of 2026 wef 01/05/2026] (2) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) for the possession of a psychoactive substance, it is a defence for the accused to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that the accused had the psychoactive substance in his or her possession for a legitimate purpose other than human consumption, regardless of whether that psychoactive substance is or is not fit for human consumption.[Act 12 of 2023 wef 01/06/2024] (3) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) for possessing, smoking, administering or consuming a psychoactive substance —(a) for the purpose of proving that a substance or product is a psychoactive substance —(i) it is sufficient for the prosecution to prove that the substance or product has the capacity to have a psychoactive effect on an individual if the individual smokes, administers to himself or herself or otherwise consumes, the substance or product; and (ii) it is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that the substance or product is not an excluded substance; and (b) a person who asserts that the psychoactive substance mentioned in paragraph (a) is an excluded substance bears the burden of proving that assertion on a balance of probabilities.[Act 12 of 2023 wef 01/06/2024] (4) In this section —“controlled drug”, “excluded substance”, “psychoactive effect” and “psychoactive substance” have the meanings given by section 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973; “specified psychoactive substance” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Tobacco and Vaporisers Control Act 1993. [Act 9 of 2026 wef 01/05/2026]