Australian Capital Territory Current Acts Australian Capital Territory Current Acts(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person—
(i) gives or causes another person to be given food or drink; or
(ii) causes another person to consume food or drink; and
(b) the food or drink contains an intoxicating substance; and
(c) the other person is not aware the food or drink contains the intoxicating substance; and
(d) the person intends a person to be harmed by the consumption of the food or drink.
Maximum penalty: 500 penalty units, imprisonment for 5 years or both.
(2) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person—
(i) gives or causes another person to be given food or drink; or
(ii) causes another person to consume food or drink; and
(b) the food or drink contains more of an intoxicating substance than the other person would reasonably expect it to contain; and
(c) the person intends a person to be harmed by the consumption of the food or drink.
Maximum penalty: 500 penalty units, imprisonment for 5 years or both.
(3) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against this section if the defendant proves that the defendant is a health practitioner and the intoxicating substance was given to the other person in the course of practising a health profession.
Note The defendant has a legal burden in relation to the matters mentioned in s (3) (see Criminal Code
, s 59).
(4) In this section:
"give", food or drink, includes—
(a) prepare food or drink; or
(b) make food or drink available for consumption.
"harm", to a person, includes impairment of the senses or understanding that the person might reasonably be expected to object to in the circumstances.
"impair" includes further impair.
"intoxicating substance "includes any substance that affects a person's senses or understanding.