While categorising offending into grades (low, mid, high level) is permissible and promotes consistency, attaching pre-determined sentencing ranges to those grades constitutes impermissible two-tier sentencing in Victoria. The low purity of a drug in a mixture is a significant factor to be taken into account in assessing the gravity of drug trafficking offending. A sentencing judge who wishes to rely on increased prevalence of an offence must have a reliable evidential foundation and must afford the offender an opportunity to be heard on the point.
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