substance of abuse and the law

Question 1

Describe the pre- misuse of drugs act

Answer 1

Pre 1916 drug use was hardly controlled

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

From 1926 non-medical drug distribution and use was criminalised
But these drugs were available to ‘addicts’ through doctors

Question 2

Describe the misuse of drugs act 1971

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Table for punishment from Drugs class A B or C

Answer 3

Nature of the offence can be:
Production
• Supply
• Possession with
intent to supply

class A: Up to 12 months
and/or a fine
class B: Up to 12 months and/or
a fine
class C: Up to 3 months
and/or a fine

Question 4

Misuse of drug regulations

Answer 4

Allow for the legal supply and possession of controlled drugs for
legitimate purposes

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

However, the law can change these schedules, for example
The scheduling of tramadol was changed in 2014 from Sch. 4 to 3
Motivated by the increasing
number of deaths
attributable to tramadol
• Valid prescription required
• Prescription not repeatable

Question 5

Describe temporary class drug orders

Answer 5

To be assigned as Class A,
B or C substances, harms
evidence needs to be
gathered – this takes time
constantly evolving market

Introduced in 2011 by
amending the MoDA

TCDOs last up to 12 months
Classed as ‘controlled’
under the MoDA with all
offences apart from
possession (although if found in
possession can be seized)

Question 6

psychoactive substances act

Answer 6

To apply for a TCDO you
need to know what the
drug is and have some
evidence to its harms
Constantly evolving market

Introduced in May 2016
Automatically controls all
substances until they are
specifically exempt

Question 7

Describe drug driving laws pre 2015

Answer 7

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
• Whilst for drink driving merely demonstrating the driver over the limit was sufficient:

Question 8

Describe drug driving laws after 2015

Answer 8

March 2015 tissue limits were introduced for:
• 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
8 medicinal drugs (+1 14th April 2015)
8 illegal drugs (or their metabolites)

ability impairment, whether it is a prescription drug and whether you are above limit all determine whether you are prosecuted

Question 9

What’s the difference between decriminalisation and legislation (eg compare netherlands and portugal)

Answer 9

Decriminalising is the softening of criminal penalties for doing
something
• Still technically illegal, but certain criteria must be met for prosecution
• Legalisation is the complete removal of criminal penalties
• Challenging if you are a UN member state (1961 Single Convention on
Narcotic Drugs and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances)

The Netherlands…
• Is cannabis legal to sell?
• Legal to possess?
Technically illegal (Opium Act 1919 and
1950), but no longer prosecuted (there are
criteria you need to meet)

In Portugal
• Is heroin legal to possess?
• Is cannabis
Both technically illegal, but now dealt with as
an administrative offence by the ‘Commission
for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction’
• You will not face prison
• Dealing still prosecuted

Question 10

Descriminalisation in Portugal

Answer 10

Portugal changed how drug use was dealt with due to their 2001 HIV crisis
• Commonly misconstrued that all drugs are legal – they are illegal, but personal
possession is an administrative offence rather than criminal (possession with intent to
distribute is still prosecuted)
• Seen as a health problem with those found in possession of illegal drugs managed by
the ‘Commission for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction’
• Focus is on harm reduction, treatment, and rehabilitation

Question 11

Describe the decriminlisation of cannabis in the UK

Answer 11

Cannabis Class B under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (moved from
Class C in 2009)
• 1
st November 2018: Some cannabis-derived medicinal products
moved from Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 Schedule 1 to
Schedule 2

Two high-profile cases put enormous public pressure on the Government

• Alfie Dingley: severe epileptic seizures every week, frequency and
quantity of IV steroids required likely eventually lethal, 2017 moved
to Netherlands and successfully treated (no seizure for 42 days)
with CBD oil containing THC, fought for years to obtain NHS
prescription and eventually given a licence.

• Billy Caldwell: autistic with thousands of epileptic seizures a month,
cannabis oil helped in Canada and local UK GP prescribed it, but
faced charges of gross medical conduct as a result thus stopped.
Mother attempted to import it, but it was confiscated. Hospitalised
with status epilepticus and ventilated. Eventually permitted to have
the medication, but it can only be administered in Belfast (requiring
two four-hour round trips, twice a day

But most remain unlicensed
Statement from The Parliamentary Health and Social Care Committee:
(and just in case you were wondering: ‘The government has absolutely no plans to legalise cannabis. Recreational use of cannabis
will remain illegal and the penalties for unauthorised supply and possession will remain unchanged’ (UK Home Office, 2018).

Question 12

Make sure you know these

Answer 12

By the end of this session, you should be able to:
• Explain how the current UK drug policies relate to each other
• MDA
• MDR
• TCDOs
• PSA
• Understand how the Class and Schedule systems are defined
• Debate the efficacy of prohibitive drug legislation
• The ‘Rolleston Era period of tranquillity’
• PSA
• Explain the difference between decriminalisation and legalisation