During a house search (Hausdurchsuchung), 35 grams of cocaine are seized. That sounds like a manageable amount. But the forensic report shows a purity of 50 percent – and therefore 17.5 grams of pure substance. The threshold quantity for cocaine is 15 grams. Now the purpose counts. If the cocaine was meant for sale, the charge is no longer § 27 SMG but preparation of drug trafficking under § 28 para 1 SMG – punishable by up to three years‘ imprisonment. If it was only for your own use, it remains § 27 SMG even above the threshold.

The threshold quantity (Grenzmenge) is the single most important number in Austrian drug law as soon as more is at stake than acquisition and possession for your own use. It matters where drugs are passed on, imported, exported or produced (§ 28a SMG) or where someone possesses them in order to put them into circulation (§ 28 SMG). Then it determines the penalty range and influences whether diversion – a disposal without a conviction – is possible. What matters is not the total weight, but exclusively the pure substance (Reinsubstanz) of the active ingredient. That distinction can mean years.

On this page I explain, as a criminal defense lawyer for drug offences in Vienna, how § 27 SMG – the basic offence provision of the Narcotic Substances Act (Suchtmittelgesetz, SMG) – fits into the wider tier system, what the threshold quantity is, where it lies for each substance, and what defense approaches exist when it is exceeded.

From the threshold quantity to the penalty range

What is the threshold quantity? – § 28b SMG

The threshold quantity is the statutory minimum amount of the pure substance of a narcotic drug from which the law assumes a large-scale danger to the life or health of human beings. It is set individually for each substance in the Threshold Quantities Regulation for Narcotic Drugs (Suchtgift-Grenzmengenverordnung, SGV) and always refers to the pure active ingredient – not to the total weight including cutting agents.

The legal basis is § 28b SMG. It empowers the Federal Minister of Health, in agreement with the Federal Minister of Justice, to set the threshold quantities by regulation. In doing so, both the dangerousness of the substance and its potential to create habituation must be taken into account.

Two regulations, two spheres

For narcotic drugs (cannabis, cocaine, heroin, amphetamines and so on) the Threshold Quantities Regulation for Narcotic Drugs (Suchtgift-Grenzmengenverordnung, SGV) applies, on the basis of § 28b SMG. For psychotropic substances (certain benzodiazepines, synthetic substances) the Threshold Quantities Regulation for Psychotropic Substances (Psychotropen-Grenzmengenverordnung, PGV) applies, on the basis of § 31b SMG. Both regulations state the threshold quantities in grams of pure substance.

Why the threshold quantity is so decisive

The threshold quantity does not automatically turn an offence into a felony. It works only together with the act. Anyone who produces, imports, exports, offers, passes on or procures drugs above the threshold commits drug trafficking under § 28a SMG: a felony with up to five years‘ imprisonment. Anyone who acquires, possesses or transports drugs above the threshold in order to put them into circulation falls under § 28 para 1 SMG: up to three years, a misdemeanour (§ 17 StGB). Anyone who possesses drugs exclusively for their own use remains under § 27 para 2 SMG whatever the amount: up to six months or a fine. In drug trafficking, the penalty range rises to 1 to 10 years above 15 times the threshold and to 1 to 15 years above 25 times. Under §§ 28 and 28a SMG, the Regional Court (Landesgericht) is in practice the competent court. Diversion under § 35 para 2 SMG requires, for §§ 28 and 28a, that you are habituated to narcotics; general diversion under §§ 198 ff StPO does not. Conversely, a quantity below the threshold does not protect against higher penalties: there, too, § 27 SMG provides for up to three years, for example for commercial selling (§ 27 para 3 SMG).

Threshold quantity table – all key substances

The following table shows the threshold quantities of the narcotic drugs most common in practice. The SGV lists more than 150 substances across several annexes – here the most practically relevant are summarised. A more detailed breakdown, including the large-quantity and extra-large-quantity multiples, is set out on the page on drug threshold quantities in Austria. All figures refer to the pure substance of the active ingredient.

Source: Threshold Quantities Regulation for Narcotic Drugs (Suchtgift-Grenzmengenverordnung, SGV), Federal Law Gazette BGBl. II No. 377/1997 as amended, RIS. For the criminal assessment only the pure substance counts. For salts, the threshold quantity refers to the base of the respective substance.

Cannabis: THCA and Delta-9-THC

For cannabis, two separate threshold quantities apply: 40 grams for THCA and 20 grams for Delta-9-THC. Both active substances are added together. For different narcotic drugs the rule is: for each, the percentage of its own threshold quantity is calculated, and the percentages are then added together (OGH 15 Os 83/02 of 22 August 2002). The courts calculate the same way for cannabis. In a conviction that the OGH left standing in 11 Os 44/26v of 25 August 2026, 42,289 grams of THCA and 2,202 grams of Delta-9-THC together amounted to 1,167 threshold quantities. How much cannabis herb makes up one threshold quantity depends on the active-substance content; only the forensic report shows it. Many defendants are not aware of this rule of calculation – yet it can decide whether the threshold quantity is exceeded.

§ 27 vs. § 28 vs. § 28a – the tier system

The Narcotic Substances Act grades criminal liability into three tiers. What matters first is what you did or intended to do with the drugs. Only then does the amount in relation to the threshold quantity count. Anyone who possesses drugs only for themselves remains under § 27 SMG, whatever the amount. Anyone who possesses them above the threshold in order to put them into circulation falls under § 28 SMG. Anyone who passes them on, imports, exports or produces them above the threshold commits drug trafficking under § 28a SMG, a felony with drastically higher penalty ranges.

§ 27 SMG – unlawful handling

§ 27 SMG covers the acquisition, possession and transport of narcotic drugs. Above the threshold this applies only as long as the drugs are not meant to be put into circulation; otherwise § 28 SMG applies. Production, import, export and passing on are covered by § 27 SMG only up to the threshold; above it, § 28a SMG applies. It is a misdemeanour. The most common case is possession of a small amount of drugs for personal use. § 27 para 2 SMG treats acquisition and possession exclusively for personal use more leniently, whatever the amount. Producing, importing or exporting above the threshold falls under § 28a SMG even if the drugs are meant only for yourself, for example when growing cannabis at home. Then a provisional withdrawal under § 35 para 2 SMG may come into consideration, or a milder penalty under § 28a para 3 SMG. Which route it will be is a matter of discretion. Both require that you are habituated to narcotics; the further conditions are set out in the section „Diversion and treatment instead of punishment“.

If you acquired or possessed the drugs exclusively for your own use, the public prosecutor must provisionally withdraw from prosecution (§ 35 para 1 SMG), whatever the amount. Therapy becomes a condition only if you need a health-related measure (§ 35 para 6 SMG).

§ 28 SMG – preparation of drug trafficking (above the threshold)

§ 28 SMG covers the acquisition, possession or transport of narcotic drugs above the threshold quantity where there is an intention to put the drug into circulation. The basic offence carries up to three years and is therefore still a misdemeanour (§ 17 StGB). It becomes a felony if it concerns a large quantity, i.e. more than 15 times the threshold (para 2), or if the offender acts as a member of a criminal association (para 3).

§ 28a SMG – drug trafficking (above the threshold, actual trade)

§ 28a SMG concerns actual trafficking: producing, importing, exporting, offering, handing over or procuring narcotic drugs above the threshold quantity. This is where the harshest penalties in Austrian drug law apply.

The tier system at a glance

How is the threshold quantity calculated?

The threshold quantity always refers to the pure substance of the active ingredient. That means: it is not the total weight of the seized substance that counts, but the actual share of the pure active ingredient. A chemical laboratory report establishes the purity.

The formula

Pure substance (g) = gross weight (g) × purity (%)

Worked example 1: amphetamine

• Seized: 200 g of amphetamine (street quality)
• Purity per the report: 15%
• Pure substance: 200 g × 0.15 = 30 g
• Threshold quantity for amphetamine: 10 g
• Result: 3× the threshold → if passed on or imported, § 28a para 1 SMG (up to 5 years); if possessed for sale, § 28 para 1 SMG (up to 3 years); if possessed for your own use, still § 27 para 2 SMG
• Not yet 15× → § 28a para 2 (large quantity) does not yet apply

Worked example 2: cocaine

• Seized: 30 g of cocaine
• Purity: 60%
• Pure substance: 30 g × 0.60 = 18 g
• Threshold quantity for cocaine: 15 g
• Result: threshold narrowly exceeded → this matters for passing on or import (§ 28a para 1 SMG) and for possession for sale (§ 28 para 1 SMG), not for possession for your own use (§ 27 para 2 SMG)

Worked example 3: cannabis

• Threshold THCA: 40 g | threshold Delta-9-THC: 20 g
• Seized: 400 g of cannabis herb
• THCA content per the report: 10% → 400 g × 0.10 = 40 g THCA
• Delta-9-THC content: 5% → 400 g × 0.05 = 20 g Delta-9-THC
• Result: one threshold quantity each of THCA and Delta-9-THC, added together twice the threshold quantity → the threshold is exceeded

In practice, the purity is frequently the decisive defense approach. A low purity can decide whether the threshold quantity is exceeded.

Aggregation intent – when individual amounts are added up

Individual sales that each lie below the threshold quantity can be added together. But not automatically. The Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) requires for this the so-called aggregation intent (Additionsvorsatz): from the very outset, the offender must have had the continuous commission and the aggregation effect connected with it within their intent.

Requirements according to the OGH

• An intent formed from the outset to realise the offence on a continuing basis
• A uniform situation and the same underlying motivation
• Mere continuity over time is not sufficient
• A reference to „roughly 25 to 50 individual acts“ without a concrete connection to the offence period is not enough for aggregation intent

Where aggregation intent is missing, the individual sales remain misdemeanours under § 27 SMG: up to one year’s imprisonment or a fine, for commercial selling up to three years (§ 27 para 3 SMG), instead of up to five years under § 28a SMG.

Adding together different substances

The OGH has confirmed that different narcotic drugs can be added together. Cocaine amounting to three quarters of its threshold plus heroin amounting to two thirds of its threshold produces, in sum, an exceedance. There is, however, a limit: drug quantities that concern different offences of a cumulative combined offence (Mischdelikt) may not be set in relation to the threshold and their percentages may not be added together.

Supreme Court case law on threshold quantities

The following decisions of the Austrian Supreme Court are particularly relevant in practice for threshold-quantity cases. They show how the OGH handles aggregation intent, sentencing and findings on intent.

OGH 12 Os 146/05w (23 February 2006) – aggregation intent

Between the summer and October of 2004, a defendant passed marijuana and hashish in small individual amounts to several buyers – a total of at least 500 g of marijuana and 200 g of hashish. The OGH made clear: combining the individual amounts into a large quantity presupposes that the intent, from the outset, encompassed the continuous commission and the aggregation effect. The decision was still given under the version of the SMG in force before 2008. At that time the threshold quantity was the lower limit of the „large quantity“ (§ 28 para 6 SMG, former version). The OGH applies the rule under current law as well (OGH 11 Os 93/21t).

OGH 11 Os 93/21t (2 November 2021) – a single unit of conduct

Where aggregation intent exists from the outset, several successive acts of commission are linked into a single statutory unit of conduct and constitute a single offence. The OGH clarified: where all the part-acts form a single offence, commercial commission (Gewerbsmäßigkeit) under § 28a para 2 no. 1 SMG cannot be based on the offender having „already committed two such offences“ (§ 70 para 1 no. 3 first case StGB). This qualification also requires that the offender has already been convicted once of an offence under § 28a para 1 SMG.

OGH 11 Os 134/18t (29 January 2019) – sentencing where the threshold is exceeded

Where offences are realised only in their simple form – offences which merely require the exceeding of a single threshold quantity – the court may treat the extent of the exceedance as an aggravating factor in sentencing. That means: a 3× exceedance of the threshold is, in practice, punished more severely than a narrow exceedance, even though formally both fall under § 28a para 1. This does not breach the prohibition on double consideration (Doppelverwertungsverbot, § 32 para 2 StGB).

OGH 13 Os 13/13f (29 August 2013) – intent as to the pure substance

The OGH set aside a conviction for drug trafficking. The trial court had not found that the defendant intended to procure the drugs. Nor did its findings express the intent regarding the pure-substance content to which the threshold quantity is linked (§ 28b SMG). That case concerned 8,216 g of cannabis resin with a purity of at least 10.77 percent and a pure Delta-9-THC substance of 884 g – more than 25 times the threshold quantity (§ 28a para 4 no. 3 SMG). The OGH requires the court to establish whether the defendant was at least conditionally aware of the quality and purity.

OGH 13 Os 118/25i (7 January 2026) – aggregation intent in the trial court’s findings

A recent decision concerned 2,000 g of heroin with a pure substance of 860 g of heroin base – equivalent to roughly 287× the threshold quantity (the threshold for heroin being 3 g). The trial court found that the defendant’s intent was directed at part-quantities and covered the continuous commission over a longer period, including the aggregation effect. The OGH rejected the plea of nullity against the conviction and set aside only the confiscation order. It did not comment on the aggregation itself.

Diversion and treatment instead of punishment

For possession for your own use, the threshold quantity plays no role in diversion. If you acquired or possessed the drugs exclusively for yourself, the public prosecutor must provisionally withdraw from prosecution (§ 35 para 1 SMG). A health-related measure such as therapy becomes a condition only if you need it (§ 35 para 6 SMG). For cannabis for personal use, the prosecutor obtains no medical opinion for this, unless an investigation for a narcotics offence was already conducted against you within the last five years (§ 35 para 4 SMG). After charges have been brought, the court must discontinue the proceedings under the same conditions (§ 37 SMG). How this route works in detail is explained on the page on diversion in Austrian criminal law.

Threshold exceeded – is diversion still possible?

If you are accused of preparation of drug trafficking (§ 28 SMG) or drug trafficking (§ 28a SMG), the prosecutor can withdraw provisionally if you are habituated to narcotics, the offence does not fall within the jurisdiction of the lay-judge or jury court, your guilt would not be regarded as serious and the withdrawal appears no less suitable than a conviction to deter you from such offences (§ 35 para 2 SMG). Unlike personal use, this is not a must: even if all conditions are met, the prosecutor decides at its duty-bound discretion (RIS-Justiz RS0121807). In addition, general diversion under §§ 198 ff StPO is available, even without habituation. One condition is that the offence carries no more than five years‘ imprisonment (§ 198 para 2 no 1 StPO), as with § 28 paras 1 and 2 or § 28a para 1 SMG. In practice, however, it is usually refused for §§ 28 and 28a SMG on general-preventive grounds: a penalty is then considered necessary to deter others from such offences (§ 198 para 1 StPO). Separately, the mitigated form (Privilegierung) under § 28 para 4 or § 28a para 3 SMG can substantially reduce the penalty range. It applies if you are habituated to narcotics and committed the offence mainly to obtain drugs for your own use, or the means to buy them (§ 27 para 5 SMG). In that case, the range under § 28a para 1, for example, falls from up to five years to up to three years.

On the particular situation of minors, see the German-language page on drug offences committed by juveniles (in German).

What to do if you are accused of drug trafficking?

If you are under investigation for drug trafficking under §§ 28 or 28a SMG, there are concrete defense approaches. Experience shows: the earlier a specialised criminal defense lawyer is brought in, the better the starting position. The most important steps, in order:

1. Remain silent. Make no statements to the police about the amount, the origin, the intended use or your contacts. Any statement about regular sales or a planned passing-on can support the case for aggregation intent. Your right to silence is not an admission of guilt.
2. Challenge the purity. The chemical laboratory report establishes the purity, and that report can be questioned: the methodology of sampling, the storage of the substance, the analytical procedure. A difference of a few percentage points in the purity can decide whether the threshold quantity is exceeded or not.
3. Dispute aggregation intent. If individual part-sales are to be added together, the prosecution must prove that an overall intent existed from the outset. Spontaneous or situational individual sales over a longer period do not establish aggregation intent. Without it, the individual acts remain misdemeanours under § 27 SMG.
4. Dispute intent as to the quantity. The court must make findings on the defendant’s intent regarding the pure-substance content, to which the threshold quantity is linked (OGH 13 Os 13/13f). Conditional intent is sufficient: it is enough that the defendant seriously considered it possible that the threshold quantity was exceeded and accepted this (§ 5 para 1 StGB; OGH 11 Os 93/21t). If this cannot be established, the subjective element required for exceeding the threshold is missing.
5. Assert the mitigated form for habituated offenders. The mitigated form (Privilegierung) under § 28 para 4 or § 28a para 3 SMG substantially reduces the penalty range if you are habituated to narcotics and committed the offence mainly to obtain drugs for your own use, or the means to buy them (§ 27 para 5 SMG). This also covers someone who sells drugs to finance their own drug habit with the proceeds. In practice, this mitigation is invoked too rarely.

Frequently asked questions on drug offences and threshold quantities

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