A total effective sentence of 40 months' imprisonment for 13 counts of methylamphetamine offences involving small quantities (0.1 to 0.5 grams) over one month, detected through telephone surveillance, is within the range of a sound sentencing discretion. Prolific small-scale street drug dealing warrants sentences reflecting the essential role such dealers play in drug distribution, and personal mitigating factors are of limited significance in such cases. The mathematical approach of subtracting specific amounts from a notional starting point for mitigating factors remains an improper fetter on the sentencing discretion.
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