Substance Abuse & the Law Flashcards
Why was there a need for drug use to be controlled
-Pre 1916 drug use was hardly controlled- coca cola contained cocaine.
-Drugs used by troops in the First World War started to grow concern
-Department stores, including Harrods, sold kits containing syringes, needles, and tubes of cocaine and heroin.
Promoted as a present for friends on the frontline – to make life in the trenches more bearable and alleviate the horrors of war.
1926- non-medical drug distribution and use was criminalised…..
But these drugs were available to ‘addicts’ through doctors
When was the misuse of drugs act introduced?
Pre 1926 -1961- ‘Rolleston Era’- understood as the golden era of drug use.
1961- UN Single Convention
on Narcotic Drugs- worlwide agreement of categorising ‘Narcotics’ - To become a member of the UN- you had to ban certain drugs.
1964- Drugs (Regulation of Misuse) Act
1971- Misuse of Drugs Act (from the US convention of psychotropic substances)
What did the MISUSE OF DRUGS ACT 1971 entail
The primary legislative framework for drug control in the UK
- Controls drugs that are ‘dangerous or otherwise harmful’ and is routinely amended when drugs are added/reclassified
- Three tiers of classification
- Class A: E.g. Heroin, cocaine, LSD, MDMA
- Class B: E.g. Cannabis, ketamine, oral amphetamines
- Class C: E.g. Most benzodiazepines, tramadol, gabapentinoids
- Used to assign penalties based on the associated harms
- Drugs can be classed by name or structural features
Useful for catching a wide range of substances….
….But can be difficult to interpret - E.g. December 2016s ‘third generation’ synthetic cannabinoid definitions
- long definiitions that are difficult to interpret
How did prosecution occur based on the MISUSE OF DRUGS ACT 1971
-Summary: plead guilty
- indictment: plead not guilty and are found guilty
- Offence: Production, supply, possession with intent to supply
Summary:
class A: 12 months and/or fine
class B: 12 months and/or fine
Class C: 3 months and/or fine
Indictment:
class A: Life and/or fine
class B: 14 years and/or fine
Class C: 14 years and fine
- Offence: Possession
Summary:
class A: 12 months or fine
class B: 3 months and fine
class C: 3 Months and fine
Indictment:
class A: 7 years and fine
class B: 5 years and fine
class C: 2 years and fine
what do the ‘MISUSE OF DRUGS REGULATIONS’ aim to achieve? (Part of 1971, drugs of misuse act)
Allow for the legal supply and possession of controlled drugs for legitimate purposes
MISUSE OF DRUGS REGULATIONS- classification of drugs for their medicinal use
Schedule 1
* Most stringently controlled
* Have no medical use
* E.g. LSD, heroin, MDMA
Schedule 2 & 3
* Have medicinal use but deemed highly addictive
* An offence to be in possession of Sch. 2 & 3 compounds without a prescription
* Schedule 2 E.g. Methadone, morphine, cocaine
* Schedule 3 E.g. Buprenorphine, midazolam, tramadol
Schedule 4 * Prescription requirements do not apply
* Not subject to safe custody requirements
* E.g. Clobazam, steroids, Z-drugs.
Schedule 5 * Exempt from almost all requirements imposed on controlled drugs
* Preparations can contain higher scheduled drugs (e.g. morphine) but at sufficiently low
concentrations
For which drug was the scheduling changed in 2014
The scheduling of Tramadol was changed from schedule 4 to 3-
- Motivated by the increasing
number of deaths
attributable to tramadol - Valid prescription required
- Prescription not repeatable
why were Temporary Class drug orders introduced
In the mid 2010’s Temporary class drug orders were introduced because of increasing compounds which were classified as ‘legal highs’ -
because based on the act before, a specific structure and nameed drug was considered illegal.
To be assigned as Class A,
B or C substances, harms
evidence needs to be
gathered – this takes time
-Introduced in 2011 by
amending the MoDA
- TCDOs last up to 12 months ( this is a faster way of controlling drug if not all of the evidence is gathered.
Classed as ‘controlled’
under the MoDA with all
offences apart from
possession (although if found in possession can be seized)
what was the problem with TCDO’s and what act was introduced as a result:
To apply for a TCDO you
need to know what the
drug is and have some
evidence to its harms
Legal highs are a constantly evolving market
Thus, the ‘PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES ACT’ was introduced-
ADV- Automatically controls all
substances until they are
specifically exempt
How does the prosecution occur based for the 2016- Psychosubstances Act
Summary:
Possession- NOT OFFENCE
and/ custodial institution/ intent to supply/production/importation & exportation
– up to 12 months and/or fine
Indictment:
Possession- NOT OFFENCE
Possession, and/ custodial institution/ intent to supply/production/importation & exportation
2- 7 years and fine
PSA& TCDOS: Personal Possession in not punished
Possesion in custodial institution
PSA: YES
TCDOs: NO
What were the positive and negatives of the introduction of the Psychoactive substances Act
Positive effects:
1. Cost of the drugs increases (drug use becomes less prevalent)
- More headshops were shut
- Decrease in the incidence of its use amongst the population
- The no. prosecutions for production and manufacture increased
Negative effects:
1. Increased use in prisons as they are hard to detect
- Increased diversity of substances
- Increased trafficking of the substance ( you only need small amounts - you can dilute it- more potent and deadly
Describe the stats associated with the intro of the psychosubstances act
-With the introduction of the 2016 psychosubstances act, there was a decrease in the overall number of deaths but amongst the people that use drugs, the number of deaths increased.
-there was increased use of opioids and hallucinogens . But an increase in the use of synthetic cannabinoids, anxiolytics and stimulants.
amongst 15-24 and the introduction of the act reduced the number of cases amongst middle class (measured by cases reports in each deprivation decile)
- arguably this act only benifeted a certain class and did not reduce
Nitrious oxide
-dilates blood vessels
-increased blood flow to the head
- is it psychoactive?
- possession is not criminalised, intent to supply and manufacture is criminalised
- examples of cases where it has been criminalised in the instance where prosecution occurred because the NO was not manfufacture to medically safe standard
How does China influenence drug use trends in the UK
when drugs were banned in china, a pattern followed whereby the drug dissapered from the UK market.
eg. Spike in fentanyl related deaths in China, Fentanyl was banned. Fentanyl related deaths dropped in UK as well as worldwide.
why? China has relies on the old uk system whereby a drug is banned if there is enough evidence to support this ban. So Chinese labs are synthesising these novel synthetic drugs that are misused.
Drug driving
Prior to 2015 there were lower than desired conviction rates for driving whilst impaired by
drugs
* 2012: 80% drug-driving conviction rate vs 96% for drink-driving
* Thought to be because prosecution had to prove:
* Driver was impaired
* Impairment was due to drugs (difficult to prove)
* Whilst for drink driving merely demonstrating the driver over the limit was sufficient: 35ml/100ml - breath, 80/100 ml blood.
What were improvement in laws for drug-driving
March 2015 tissue limits were introduced for:
8- medicinal drugs
8 illegal drugs
- At any time, the police can make drivers do a field impairment assessment and a roadside
substance test: - Alcohol
- Cocaine
- Cannabis
- If you test positive for the above, or they suspect a different substance, you will be arrested
and taken for a blood and urine test
