Prior to March 2012, MXE was not controlled by the UK's Misuse of Drugs Act.[12] In March 2012, the Home Office referred MXE to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs for possible temporary controlling under the powers given in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.[13][14] The ACMD gave their advice on March 23, with the chair commenting that "the evidence shows that the use of methoxetamine can cause harm to users and the ACMD advises that it should be subject to a temporary class drug order."[15] In April 2012, methoxetamine was placed under temporary class drug control, which prohibits its import and sale for 12 months.[16]
On October 18th 2012 the ACMD released a report about MXE, saying that the "harms of methoxetamine are commensurate with Class B of the Misuse of Drugs Act (1971)", despite the fact that the act does not classify drugs based on harm.-
