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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: New laws try to stop growth of drug culture Leonard Jason-Lloyd The Times Tuesday 05 Feb 2002 The net is widening in the fight against drug misuse. On February 1 new laws took effect which will bring more drugs under strict legal controls and criminalise unauthorised possession of common tranquillisers such as Mogadon. In the first change, some 36 new Ecstasy-type substances have been placed under the control of the Misuse of Drugs Act; all but one have now been included alongside drugs such as such as raw opium and LSD, substances that have no medicinal uses and cannot be prescribed. Why the term 'Ecstasy-type' substances rather than Ecstasy? The reason is that these new drugs do not come from the same generic chemical group as the more well-known forms of Ecstasy although they share the same basic characteristics. Each of the 36 has therefore been individually named in the new legislation. Under a second change, most of the well-known tranquillisers known as the benzodiazepines are brought within the criminal law. These include diazepam (Valium), chlordiazepoxide (Librium) and nitrazepam (Mogadon). For many years they have been widely used to treat mild anxiety and sleep disorders, but from February 1 unauthorised possession of these drugs has been criminalised. They are also now subject to much tighter import and export controls. Any patient possessing a prescribed benzodiazepine drug intending to go abroad with it may have to apply to the Home Office for a personal export licence depending on how long they are likely to remain outside the country. Other substances have been placed under the same controls - including pemoline, a mild stimulant of the central nervous system. The changes are only the first in the stepping up of the drugs war. Other moves are likely in the near future. The most controversial is the proposed downgrading of cannabis resin from a Class B controlled drug to Class C. This would make it unlawful to possess cannabis for recreational purposes although the maximum sentences for its general misuse will be lower than at present. But will cannabis be available on prescription? Any legitimate medical use of the drug would have to be in the form of a medicinal product. Doctors would not be able to prescribe 'joints'. Instead, a tried and tested medicinal product would have to be approved by the Medicines Control Agency under the Medicines Act 1968, a process that can take many months. Already clinical trials are in progress. There will also be wider laws concerning persons who turn a blind eye to drug offences on premises. The existing law prohibits the smoking of cannabis or prepared opium on premises but not the smoking or injecting of heroin or the sniffing of cocaine; nor does it include the smoking of crack cocaine. A new catch-all provision has now been inserted into the Misuse of Drugs Act which will fill these gaps once put into effect. The net will be cast even wider following a recommendation that GHB (gammahydroxybutyrate) be made a Class C controlled drug. This has been used medicinally as a pre-operation sedative and is under the control of the Medicines Act. This means possession of this drug is no offence although there are restrictions on its unauthorised manufacture and distribution. Despite this, it has been reported that it can be bought over the Internet or from sex shops and is frequently used as a party drug. Although some users claim it has similar effects to Ecstasy, it also produces similar feelings to alcohol; there is particular concern about its use as a date-rape drug. Our anti-drug laws are changing at an increasing rate. This is essential if the fight against addiction and the other social problems of drug misuse is to continue. But the disturbing growth in the drug culture of this country cannot be tackled by laws alone: they must be backed by all agencies involved which, in turn, should be given sufficient resources for the purpose. The price, though, is one we must afford if the rising tide of drug misuse is not to become a flood. Leonard Jason-Lloyd is senior lecturer in law at Coventry University and author of Drugs, Addiction and the Law (Elm Publications, Seaton House, Huntingdon PE28 2NJ)
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