Psychoactive Substances Act 2016

Psychoactive Substances Act 2016
Act of Parliament

Long title An Act to make provision about psychoactive substances; and for connected purposes.
Citation 2016 c. 2
Territorial extent England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland.[1]
Dates
Royal assent 28 January 2016
Commencement
  • 28 January 2016 (sections 59, 61 and 62)
  • Not yet determined (the rest of the act)
Other legislation
Amends
Replaces Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act 1985
Status: Not fully in force
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database

The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 is a law in the United Kingdom intended to restrict the production, sale and supply of a new class of psychoactive substances often referred to as "legal highs". The bill passed into and was given Royal Assent but enforcement of the provisions of the Act has been delayed indefinitely.

Description

The law defines as a "psychoactive substance" anything which "by stimulating or depressing the person’s central nervous system ... it affects the person’s mental functioning or emotional state". The law bans all such substances but exempts alcohol, tobacco or nicotine-based products, caffeine, food and drink, medicinal products and any drug that is already regulated under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

The Act makes it a criminal offence to supply, produce, or possess with intent to supply, these banned substances and makes those offences punishable by a fine, or by up to a year in prison (six months in Northern Ireland) if convicted as a summary offence, or up to seven years if convicted under indictment. The Act also defines an offence of possession in a custodial institution (prison, young offenders institution etc.) which has the same penalties as the other offences, except the maximum prison term if convicted under indictment is two years.

The Act also describes a series of aggravating factors which judges or magistrates are obliged to consider in sentencing. These are:

Implementation

In 2015, Home Office minister Mike Penning wrote a letter to representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England to try to reassure them that incense would not fall under the jurisdiction of the bill and that churches would not face prosecution for use of incense during worship.[2]

The Act was due to come into force on April 6, 2016. It has been delayed indefinitely due to a lack of clarity as to what the meaning of "psychoactive" is, and what substances are covered by the law. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs also told the Government that alkyl nitrites (poppers) were not covered by the law as it was not considered psychoactive, as it effected a person's muscles rather than their central nervous system. The Government accepted this advice and have stated that poppers would not be covered by the Act when it comes into force.[3]

Criticism

The law has been criticised as an infringement on civil liberties. Barrister Matthew Scott described the act as an attempt to "ban pleasure", saying it could drastically overreach by banning areca nuts, additives used in vapourisers and electronic cigarettes, hop pillows, and the sale of toads and salamanders that naturally produce psychoactive substances. Scott went further and suggested it may also ban flowers and perfumes as the scents can produce an emotional response. He described it as "bad legislation", compared its drafting with the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, and described it as incompatible with a conservative philosophy of only banning something when there is clear evidence of harm.[4]

The government's own Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) said the law was unworkable as "the psychoactivity of a substance cannot be unequivocally proven", and that it would potentially impede scientific progress by restricting medical research.[5][6]

Psychopharmacologist and former member of the ACMD, David Nutt, said that the law's ban on poppers (alkyl nitrites) and nitrous oxide was difficult to reconcile with how safe those drugs are in practice, and argued that the (then presumed) ban on poppers was specifically aimed at gay men.[7] The gay rights campaigning group Stonewall said that unless evidence suggested that poppers did any harm, they should be excluded from the ban.[8]

References

  1. ↑ According to section 62, amendments and repeals from this act to section 75 the Armed Forces Act 2006 ("power of service policeman to stop and search persons, vehicles etc") may also be extended to the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and British Overseas Territories under the provisions of the Armed Forces Act 2006.
  2. ↑ Travis, Alan (October 2, 2015). "Incense in churches safe from new substances bill, say ministers". The Guardian.
  3. ↑ Dunt, Ian (March 30, 2016). "Psychoactive Substances Act delayed while the Home Office works out what it has banned". politics.co.uk.
  4. ↑ Scott, Matthew (June 2, 2015). "Theresa May wants to ban pleasure". The Daily Telegraph.
  5. ↑ Brooks-Pollock, Tom (July 3, 2015). "Theresa May's legal highs ban has been savaged as 'impossible' — by her own advisers". The Independent.
  6. ↑ Travis, Alan (July 5, 2015). "Theresa May's legal highs ban is unenforceable, say government advisers". The Guardian.
  7. ↑ Nutt, David (21 March 2016). "The poppers ban is a veiled attack on pleasure". The Guardian.
  8. ↑ "Poppers should not be banned until the evidence is reviewed". Stonewall. January 20, 2016.

External links

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