Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1999 inserted a new S.15A into the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1977 which introduced the specific offence of possesions of drugs with a market value of over 10,000 Irish Pounds, and applied a mandatory minimum sentence with respect to these offences. However S.27(3)(C) of the Misuse of Drugs Act,1977, as amended, does leave an element of discretion to the trial judge to impose a lesser sentence in certain circumstances. This article analyses a number of those decisions to determine how the new legislation has been applied by the courts and whether any clear patterns have emerged.