Last week
in Parliament saw the Psychoactive Substances Bill successfully negotiate its
third reading. The Bill is likely to
come into force as early as April this year and will effectively ban the
so-called “legal highs” as it seeks to ban all substances that have a
“psychoactive effect”.
During the
course of last year I was made aware that substances that provide legal highs
are readily available on our high streets.
A few minutes of investigative work proved this to be true, and I was
shocked to see how easy it was to buy these substances on the high street in St
Austell and Newquay.
While legal
highs come with many health warnings and cannot be marketed for human
consumption, they were readily available for sale. I was pleased at the time to
raise awareness of the dangers of legal highs, which resulted in the withdrawal
of their sale in St Austell town centre.
Britain
uses more psychoactive substances than any other country in Europe and is at
risk of being overwhelmed by the sheer scale of this problem. A countrywide ban
as contemplated in the Psychoactive Substances Bill, is the right and sensible next
step.
The Bill
will introduce a blanket ban on the production, supply, and possession with the
intent to supply, and import and export, of psychoactive substances. These measures mean that the availability of
legal highs will be severely restricted; effectively the supply will be cut.
The Bill is
not intended to criminalise those who use legal highs for recreation and
therefore simple possession is not an offence under the Bill. While civil and criminal sanctions are
included in the Bill, they are aimed at the larger suppliers of legal highs.
The Bill
seeks to shift the boundary between legal and illegal substances, and includes
a list of a number of substances that will be explicitly exempted from the controls
in the Bill. These include alcohol,
caffeine and nicotine. The Bill also provides
order-making powers for the Secretary of State to add substances to this list. It is likely that the scope of this
legislation will continue to evolve.
The passage
of the Bill has been accompanied by controversy, with the main counter argument
being that use of legal highs will continue, but will be forced
underground. While I recognize that this
is possible, I believe that the benefits of this Bill outweigh the costs.
It cannot
be right that chemical substances that mimic illegal drugs are readily available
on our high streets, and I was therefore happy to support this Bill.
My team and I are here to serve the whole constituency and
seek to make a real difference to the lives of everyone who needs help and
support in any way.
If there is any issue that we can help you with then please
contact us on either 01726 829379
or on office@stevedouble.org.uk.
