Christopher Johnston, 26, and Paul James McCauley, 24, pleaded not guilty to importing a marketable quantity of cocaine from Thailand in November 2014.

They were arrested after they collected a package containing the drugs that police had delivered to McCauley's grandmother.

Police said they had also intercepted phone conversations between three men and believed Johnston had arranged the drug importation.

Johnston and McCauley's joint trial wrapped up in ACT Supreme Court this week.

The prosecution had argued the pair intended to peddle 49 grams of cocaine seized to buyers in Canberra, while defence lawyers said they were drug-addicted young men and every gram they got hold of went "straight up their noses".

The jury returned a guilty verdict on Friday morning after a day and half of deliberations.

But they were granted bail after a judge ordered they be assessed for an intensive corrections order, a new sentencing option which allows offenders to serve their sentence in the community.

Justice Hilary Penfold released the men on conditions they report weekly to police and avoid drugs and alcohol, telling the men's lawyers:

"I suggest you have a straight, serious talk with your clients about about this ICO assessment and what hangs on it, and encourage them to take it seriously."

During the trial, the jury had been told there was no dispute about any elements of the drug importation charge faced by the men.

But there was a defence available to the pair if it was proved the men neither intended to sell the drug, nor believed the other was going to sell it.

Federal prosecutor Robert Barry told the court the cocaine, which had an estimated maximum street value of $21,000, was of a significantly higher purity than that of cocaine generally sold in the ACT and would have been sold for $250 to $350 per gram.

He argued that would have been a powerful incentive for the men to buy it cheaply overseas, import it and sell it.

But Johnston's barrister Steven Whybrow said thousands of text messages and phone intercepts used as evidence revealed no evidence of the alleged drug deal.

"He was a terrible coke addict, frankly. Every gram of cocaine that comes in was going straight up their noses.

"They were chipping in, equal shares. They were going to party, they weren't going to sell it."

McCauley's barrister James Lawton told the jury the defendants were "amateur" sellers of cocaine and the purchase had been a group buy.