Misuse of Drugs Act 1971
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The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (c.38)[1][2][3], an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (UK), has been amended since 1971 and remains the centre piece of UK drug control policies and legislation. It represents UK action in line with treaty commitments under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs[4], the Convention on Psychotropic Substances[5], and the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances[6].
The act aims to control the possession and supply of numerous drugs and drug-like substances, as listed under the act, and to enable international co-operation between law enforcement agencies working against illegal drug trafficking.
It is often presented as little more than a list of proscribed drugs and of penalties linked to their possession and supply. In practice, however, the act establishes the Home Secretary as a key player in a drug licensing system. Therefore, for example, various opiates are available legally as prescription-only controlled drug medicines, and cannabis (hemp)[7] may be grown under licence for 'industrial purposes'. The Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001[8], created under the 1971 Act, are about licensing of production, possession and supply of substances classified under the act.
The act creates three classes of controlled substances, A, B, and C, and ranges of penalties for illegal or unlicensed possession and possession with intent to supply are graded differently within each class. The lists of substances within each class can be amended by order, so the Home Secretary can list new drugs and upgrade, downgrade or delist previously controlled drugs with less of the bureaucracy and delay associated with passing an act through both Houses of Parliament.
The act does not cover all drugs or drug-like substances. Although, for example, cannabis is listed under the Act (as a class B drug since 26 January 2009), tobacco, another herb or plant source of drug material, is not listed.
International cooperation
The act makes it a crime to assist in, incite, or induce, the commission of an offence, outside the UK, against another nation's corresponding law on drugs. A corresponding law is defined as another country's law "providing for the control and regulation in that country of the production, supply, use, export and import of drugs and other substances in accordance with the provisions of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs" or another drug control treaty to which the UK and the other country are parties. An example might be lending money to a United States drug dealer for the purpose of violating that country's Controlled Substances Act.
History
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The Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act 1964 controlled amphetamines in the United Kingdom in advance of international agreements and was later used to control LSD.
Before 1971, the UK had a relatively liberal drugs policy and it was not until United States influence had been brought to bear, particularly in United Nations circles, that drugs use was generally criminalised[citation needed]. Before the passage of the Act, it was possible, for example, for heroin addicts to be prescribed enough of the drug to manage their addiction without being forced to buy from the black market[citation needed].
Penalties
The penalties for drug offences depend on the class of drug involved. It should be noted that these penalties are enforced against those who do not have a valid prescription or license to possess the drug in question. Thus it is not illegal for someone to possess oxycodone, a class A drug, so long as it was administered to them legally (by prescription).
Class A drugs attract the highest penalty, and imprisonment is both "proper and expedient".[10] The maximum penalties possible are as follows[11]:
| Offence | Court | Class A | Class B | Class C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Possession | Magistrates | 6 months / £5000 fine | 3 months / £2500 fine | 3 months / £500 fine |
| Crown | 7 years / unlimited fine | 5 years / unlimited fine | 2 years / unlimited fine | |
| Supply | Magistrates | 6 months / £5000 fine | 6 months / £5000 fine | 3 months / £2000 fine |
| Crown | Life / unlimited fine | 14 years / unlimited fine | 14 years / unlimited fine |
Lists of controlled drugs
The act sets out three separate classes, A, B, and C, of controlled drug in Schedule 2, parts I-III. Substances may be removed and added to different parts of the schedule by statutory instrument, provided a report of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has been commissioned and has reached a conclusion, although the Secretary of State is not bound by ACMD findings.
The lists below may not be complete and may not be up to date.
Criticism and controversy
Notable criticism of the act includes:
- Drug classification: making a hash of it?, Fifth Report of Session 2005–06, House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, which said that the present system of drug classification is based on historical assumptions, not scientific assessment[15]
- Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse, David Nutt, Leslie A. King, William Saulsbury, Colin Blakemore, The Lancet, 24 March 2007, said the act is "not fit for purpose" and "the exclusion of alcohol and tobacco from the Misuse of Drugs Act is, from a scientific perspective, arbitrary"[16][17]
The Transform Drug Policy Foundation offers more radical criticism[18].
Classification of cannabis has become especially controversial. In 2004, cannabis[7] was reclassified from class B to class C [13], in accordance with advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). Earlier this year, 2009, it was returned to class B [14], against ACMD advice.
Footnotes
- ^ Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (c.38), the text of the act, OPSI website, accessed 27 January 2009
- ^ Misuse of Drugs Act, Home Office representation of the act, Home Office website, accessed 27 January 2009
- ^ Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 - original version, UK Cannabis Internet Activists website, accessed 28 January 2009
- ^ Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) website, accessed 6 February 2009
- ^ Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) website, accessed 6 February 2009
- ^ Convention against the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) website, accessed 6 February 2009
- ^ a b c All varieties of cannabis, including those grown as hemp, are controlled under the act, not just drug varieties.
- ^ The Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, OPSI website, accessed 28 January 2009
- ^ a b Drugs Act 2005 (c. 17), OPSI website, accessed 2 February 2009
- ^ R v Aramah (1982) 4 Cr App R (S) 407, per Lord Lane CJ
- ^ Class A, B and C drugs, Home Office website, accessed 27 January 2009
- ^ Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) Order 2006 (No. 3331), OPSI website, accessed 27 January 2009
- ^ a b c The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Modification) (No. 2) Order 2003 (No. 3201), OPSI website, accessed 27 January 2009
- ^ a b c The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) Order 2008 (No. 3130), OPSI website, accessed 27 January 2009
- ^ Drug classification: making a hash of it?, Fifth Report of Session 2005–06, House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, accessed 29 January 2009
- ^ Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse, David Nutt, Leslie A. King, William Saulsbury, Colin Blakemore, The Lancet website, 24 March 2007, accessed 31 January 2009 (free registration required for full access)
- ^ Scientists want new drug rankings, BBC News website, 23 March 2007, accessed 27 January 2009
- ^ Transform Drug Policy Foundation website, accessed 30 January 2009