As you’ve probably noticed, there won’t be one big series of posts on independence this year. Instead, there’ll be shorter three/or four-part series – including revisiting and updating topics I’ve covered in the past.
One of those topics is drug policy and independence, first looked at on the old Oggy Bloggy Ogwr in 2014. Alcohol (IndyWales & Alcohol) and tobacco/nicotine (IndyWales, Smoking & Vaping) have been looked at separately, but for the sake of clarification, this is about controlled/illegal recreational drugs.
To kick things off, a science lesson.
It’s easy to assume that drugs have always been illegal – and certain drugs have been banned by certain religions and governments for centuries.
It wasn’t until the start of the 20th Century that there were serious and coordinated moves to control access to drugs – particularly opioids like heroin and laudanum.
Although American attempts to ban alcohol ultimately failed, they had far more success when it came to narcotics.
In 1961, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs restricted the international trade and production of several listed drugs – except under licence. Growing social unrest, counterculture and urban decay (including increased drug addiction amongst the US military in Vietnam) prompted a moral panic in the West over illegal drug use. The then US President, Richard Nixon, coined the term “war on drugs”.
The Misuse of Drugs Act
To comply with the treaty, the UK Government introduced the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The Act restricts access to certain drugs and distinguishes between recreational drugs and controlled medicines.
Technically speaking, the act of using drugs isn’t illegal (with certain exceptions like drug driving). Possession, supply (drug dealing and trafficking) and production are.
So while using drugs might not be a specific offence, an offence is committed by obtaining them. Drug possession is still treated as a serious crime in the UK’s legal jurisdictions (Part III).
Illegal recreational drugs are placed into three classes to determine what punishment is suitable for possession, production and supply. This is based on the recommendations of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). There are also two temporary classifications for drugs previously called “legal highs”.
- Class A – (Includes heroin, cocaine, magic mushrooms, ecstasy, LSD and crystal meth) – Up to 7 years imprisonment for possession; up to life imprisonment for supply or production (including unlimited fines).
- Class B – (Includes cannabis and synthetic cannabis like “spice”, amphetamines, ketamine, codeine) – Up to 5 years imprisonment for possession, up to 14 years for supply or production (with unlimited fines).
- Class C – (Includes anabolic steroids, GHB, tranquilisers, khat) – Up to 2 years for possession; up to 14 years imprisonment for supply or production (with unlimited fines).
- Psychoactive substances – (New/emerging drugs that haven’t been properly identified; previously called “legal highs”) – No penalties for possession unless the person is in prison; up to 7 years imprisonment for supply or production (with unlimited fines).
- Temporary class drugs – (New/emerging/designer drugs that have been identified but have not yet been given a class A-C) – No penalties for possession other than confiscation; up to 14 years imprisonment for supply or production.
Aside from the introduction of the temporary and psychoactive substance categories during the 2010s, the system has remained largely unchanged since 1971.
Cannabis was downgraded to Class C in 2004 based on ACMD advice but then re-categorised as a Class B drug in 2009. Ketamine was moved from Class C to Class B in 2014.
There have been historic accusations of political meddling in the drug classification process – a process that is supposed to be based on scientific/medical evidence on relative physical and social harms, as well as the risk of addiction.
Former chair of the ACMD, Prof. David Nutt, was sacked in 2009 by then Labour Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, after claiming politics was playing a greater role in deciding drug classification than scientific evidence.
Calls for changes to the classification of cannabis, ecstasy, magic mushrooms and others have largely gone ignored.
