Summary: Drugs producing a high that were once legal are now outlawed in the UK for all levels of drug movement from production to sale.
Starting at midnight in the UK, the production, distribution, sale, and supply of the new psychoactive substances is now illegal. These substances, known as spice and black mamba among others produce the similar effects on users as cocaine and cannabis. Over 100 deaths in the UK are attributed to the substances as well as violent assaults in prison.
See Mexico Moving Towards Legalizing Marijuana for Personal Use.
Those that break this new law, called the Psychoactive Substances Act, will face up to seven years in prison. Stores and online retailers that sell drug paraphernalia will be able to be shut down by the police. Critics of law say it will just drive the sale of the drug to the “dark web,” a mostly untraceable part of the internet that does not appear on traditional search engines.
The law gives authorities the ability to seize and destroy psychoactive drugs and carry out searches of people, vehicles, and premises. Persons in prison that are found with the substances may face an additional two years in prison.
Read FDA May Approve Pot-Based Prescription Drugs to learn more.
Britain has seen a record number of drug deaths, prompting the need for some legal action to make the psychoactive substances less appealing.
Examples of the legal high drugs:
Spice replicates the effects of cannabis such as paranoia, hallucinations, and delirious ranting. It comes as a smoking mix that is used heavily in prisons. It also goes by the name black mamba and annihilation.
Salvia is different from the other legal high drugs because it comes from a plant. It is sold by stores because it is not intended for human consumption however when it is smoked or chewed it creates a hallucinogenic experience.
Mephedrone is also called “mcat” and “meow meow.” It gained notoriety in 2010 after a large of deaths resulted from people taking the drug, resulting in it being outlawed just months after and now being a class B drug. The drug mimics the effects of amphetamines like speed and MDMA.
Do you think making drugs harder to get will help or cause more problems? Tell us in the comments below.
To learn more about how other countries are responding to the increasing drug problem, read Ireland Proposes a Big Change for Drug Addicts.
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