Summary Offences Act 1981

Offences against public order

6B: Associating with serious drug offenders

You could also call this:

"It's an offence to regularly hang out with someone who has committed serious drug crimes if it might lead to more crime."

Illustration for Summary Offences Act 1981

You commit an offence if you habitually associate with a serious drug offender and it can be reasonably inferred that this association will lead to a serious drug offence. A serious drug offender is someone who has been convicted of a serious drug offence at least twice. You are liable to imprisonment or a fine if you commit this offence. You will not be charged with this offence unless you have been warned by a constable at least three times that your association with the serious drug offender may lead to a charge. These warnings must be given within seven years of the serious drug offender's last conviction. If you are a serious drug offender and you associate with another serious drug offender, you can both be charged with this offence. If you are charged with this offence, you can be imprisoned for up to three months or fined up to $2,000. This section does not apply to certain offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, such as those related to Class C controlled drugs or cannabis, unless the offence involves a substantial amount of the drug or its cultivation on a substantial scale.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM53517.

This page was last updated on 11 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Crime and justice > Criminal lawCrime and justice > Police and safety

6A: Associating with violent offenders, or

"Staying Away from People Who Have Been Violent"

6C: Proof of habitual association, or

"How police warnings can prove you often hang out with a certain group"

6BAssociating with serious drug offenders

Every person commits an offence against this section who habitually associates with a serious drug offender in circumstances from which it can reasonably be inferred that the association will lead to the commission of a serious drug offence by that person or any such offender.
This section does not apply in respect of a serious drug offence against—
section 6 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 in relation to a Class C controlled drug specified or described in Part 1 of Schedule 3 of that Act (other than catha edulis plant or coca leaf); or
section 9 of that Act in relation to a prohibited plant of the genus Cannabis,—

No charging document for an offence against this section may be filed unless—
the defendant has been warned by any constable on at least 3 separate occasions that his or her continued association with the serious drug offender may lead to a charge being brought against him or her under this section; and
every warning under paragraph (a) in respect of an association with a serious drug offender is given not more than 7 years after the date of that serious drug offender's last conviction for a serious drug offence.

To avoid any doubt, if a person who is a serious drug offender habitually associates with another serious drug offender in the circumstances specified in subsection (1), this section does not prevent one or both of those persons from being charged with an offence under this section.
Every person who commits an offence against this section is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or a fine not exceeding $2,000.
In this section serious drug offender means a person who has been convicted on at least 2 separate occasions of a serious drug offence.

Notes

Section 6B: inserted, on 1 January 1998, by section 4 of the Summary Offences Amendment Act 1997 (1997 No 97).
Section 6B(3): amended, on 1 July 2013, by section 413 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 (2011 No 81).