According to the EU Drugs Policy ( 17/9/2013 ) all new psychoactive substances must be submitted for a risk assessment by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and cannot be sold without such an assessment. This effectively terminates the sale of "legal highs" without a review for risk.
At the beginning of July 2014, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) declared that legal highs are not classified as pharmaceutical products and are not prohibited provided they are not covered by the Narcotics Acts. The Federal Republic of Germany had ruled that legal highs are unsafe pharmaceutical products, but the ECJ overruled this interpretation. So personal use, rather than sale, of non-classified drugs is not illegal.
All EU countries are amending their drug legislation to take account of the EU approach. Many, such as Ireland, have simply banned the sale of all psychoactive substances except those that are explicitly permitted. The UK has introduced the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 that comes into force in April and is similar to the Irish approach.
The current position seems to be that previously "legal" highs and new highs cannot be sold without a risk assessment and it is unlikely that such an assessment will be positive. Even if the highs were found to be low risk in the UK or Ireland it would be illegal to sell them from April. Possession of small quantities of a now, dubiously legal, low risk high, that is not covered specifically in the narcotics acts is probably not illegal. All highs will be included under the EU Narcotic Acts if deemed by the EMCDDA to be of moderate or higher risk.
The essential point here is that the policy is being driven from Brussels. We may agree with it in this instance but suppose it was a policy that we did not like? In the future EU policies can be left or right, racist or liberal etc. and the UK can do nothing but follow.
15/2/16
At the beginning of July 2014, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) declared that legal highs are not classified as pharmaceutical products and are not prohibited provided they are not covered by the Narcotics Acts. The Federal Republic of Germany had ruled that legal highs are unsafe pharmaceutical products, but the ECJ overruled this interpretation. So personal use, rather than sale, of non-classified drugs is not illegal.
All EU countries are amending their drug legislation to take account of the EU approach. Many, such as Ireland, have simply banned the sale of all psychoactive substances except those that are explicitly permitted. The UK has introduced the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 that comes into force in April and is similar to the Irish approach.
The current position seems to be that previously "legal" highs and new highs cannot be sold without a risk assessment and it is unlikely that such an assessment will be positive. Even if the highs were found to be low risk in the UK or Ireland it would be illegal to sell them from April. Possession of small quantities of a now, dubiously legal, low risk high, that is not covered specifically in the narcotics acts is probably not illegal. All highs will be included under the EU Narcotic Acts if deemed by the EMCDDA to be of moderate or higher risk.
The essential point here is that the policy is being driven from Brussels. We may agree with it in this instance but suppose it was a policy that we did not like? In the future EU policies can be left or right, racist or liberal etc. and the UK can do nothing but follow.
15/2/16
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