You’re not hallucinating, MPs really did pass crazy bad drug law

“This is politicians behaving at their worst,” he said. “The future will condemn them.” – Paul Flynn A new ban on psychoactive substances in the UK is a catch-all backward step that ranks as one of the most unhelpful laws ever passed, says Clare Wilson

It’s official – the UK ban on legal highs that will begin in April is going to be one of the stupidest, most dangerous and unscientific pieces of drugs legislation ever conceived.

Watching MPs debate the Psychoactive Substances Bill yesterday, it was clear most of them hadn’t a clue. They misunderstood medical evidence, mispronounced drug names, and generally floundered as they debated the choices and lifestyles of people who are in most cases decades younger than themselves.

It would have been funny except the decisions made will harm people’s lives and liberty.

The bill is an attempt to clamp down on substances that mimic the effects of drugs like cannabis and ecstasy. It stems from the media hysteria a few years ago over one of the best known ones, mephedrone, or meow meow, which was linked with some deaths. Mephedrone was banned, but new compounds can be made rapidly and other legal highs soon took its place. These can be openly sold on the internet and in “head shops”, seedy-looking stores found in most towns and cities.

Prohibition didn’t work in America

So “ban everything that gets you high” was the government’s reaction – and this bill is the result. The idea of a blanket prohibition is superficially appealing – yet fundamentally flawed. Banning something people enjoy does not mean they will stop doing it. It just means that instead of buying what they want from shops and legal websites, they now need to trade with criminals. Criminals have much less incentive to make sure their products are genuine and unadulterated or to refuse sales to minors.

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