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  • EADD Moderators: axe battler

NPS Act V1. Blankets? Just Say No!

There are a reported 10 deaths a year from food allergies in the UK, so why aren't they banning nuts etc too? People have died from food, and there are 4,500 hospital admissions a year from food allergies, therefore food is clearly dangerous. How can they let something so dangerous continue to line the shelves of supermarkets?

Alcohol and tobacco though, well, they clearly kill far more people than all the other drugs put together, so no surprise the government is happy for people to be directed there, the quicker people die the less they are a burden to the state.

I am seriously thinking of coming up with a long term plan to eventually leave this country.
 
the only thing i'll miss is Kratom! Hopefully the quality and availability of the good old classics will increase. The only thing that will change for me is i'll not be hoarding random RC's that i'll prbably never touch, just for the sake of it. Fair enough those in trouble with RC benzos will have a lot of planning to do right now if they are smart enough but i'll be glad to see the benzos go for sure, caused nothing but trouble for me the last few years.
 
How, seriously do they define "new psychoactive substances" though? That's the thing. If kratom is included (though it's not "new"), then surely valerian, gingko biloba, and any other herbs would have to be banned as well? I can't see Big HerbPharma and their vast profits being happy about that? Obviously we're looking at headlines and the dumbed down Queen's speech version at the moment... Reminds me of when Cameron said he would ban internet encryption - a clearly clueless statement that would put an end to online banking and pretty much everything else involving secure connections... The devil is in the detail I expect.
 
Well If they follow the south of Irelands model than that will be the case unfortunately. I have also had emails from kratom vendors saying that they will most likely be affected and they are already offering bulk discounts.
 
So as well as those of us who they are fucking over, how many people's livelihoods are they fucking over? Total step in the wrong direction, as everyone except politicians knows prohibition does far more harm than good.

But keep up with the binge drinking, it keeps the population docile.
 
What do you guys think? Will the law go through?
Of course it will pass. We have a typical reactionary Conservative government :( The main opposition Labour party will be too scared to be seen to be 'soft on drugs' to oppose it.
 
You're allowed 2 drugs, Alcohol and cigs in combination with each other to kill you before your pension age. Yet Evey delusionally thinks the Government gives a fuck
 
How can you possibly ban ALL psychoactive substances?

Coffee and alcohol are also psychoactive as well as prozac, all psychiatric meds, benedryl and over the counter sleep meds, etc.
 
Guess i chose the right time to taper from diclaz. How poor. Still, dark web and EU legal high stores. Well legal in their respective countries obviously.

It was only a matter of time really. Most of the good things are illegal already.
 
I'd ban all psychiatric meds if I could. Switch them out for psychedelics.

This sounds like a lotta bullshit tho.
 
Psychoactive Substances Bill

“New legislation will… ban the new generation of psychoactive drugs.”
The purpose of the Bill is to:

• Protect hard-working citizens from the risks posted by untested, unknown and
potential harmful drugs.

what about the not-so-hard-working citizen....
 
Sooooo.... what are e-cigs, exactly? Medicine?

CBD Oil is legal but manufacturers are not permitted to make medicinal claims. Banned?

How about music, it has a psychoactive effect, illegal?

Well here we are again! A new Government - albeit one that has the remnants of the previous - but nothing new in the UK's drug policy, at least in terms of what can be deemed progress by any rational measure.

No, instead we have full blown regression, encompassed now in "New legislation [that] will ... ban the new generation of psychoactive drugs," it was announced Wednesday in the Queen's speech.

The alleged purpose of the Bill is to "protect hard-working citizens from the risks posed by untested, unknown and potential harmful drugs." How noble of the Government. Does this mean, therefore, that there is an exemption in the legislation so that those who aren't in work, or those who aren't that "hard-working," will be able to be involved in the trade without fear of prosecution?

In the wake of this announcement the Release team feared how far reaching the definition of "new psychoactive substances" could be. What would happen to chocolate or alcohol, for example? Thankfully, we can still eat chocolate and have a glass of wine. The Government has clarified that the Bill would essentially create a number of offences related to "any substance intended for human consumption that is capable of producing a psychoactive effect" excluding "alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, food and medicinal products." So, tobacco is fine but e-cigarettes possibly not, marking a perhaps not insignificant blow to this harm reduction measure. There is potential difficulties in relation to nitrous oxide or 'laughing gas' which has a number of legitimate purposes within the exceptions. There is no doubt that this will be a technical nightmare for those drafting the Bill.

Facetiousness and finer points aside, the proposed legislation is simply another example of why we need an overhaul of our drugs policy. New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) is in itself an unhelpful term, but if we take it as new powders and substances that are produced to mimic the effects of traditional illegal drugs, then we must recognise that these drugs have not appeared in a vacuum; rather, they are a response to the current system of prohibition.

Decades of outlawing illicit narcotics - a measure which has little effect on prevalence - should be proof enough that a blanket ban will solve nothing. This is why we need an approach that reflects the reality of the market, realising that different products emerge as a result of developments or trends in the current established trade, not as a result of their legality or otherwise. To use just one case study, the rise of mephedrone use in the late 2000s was mainly as a result of low MDMA and cocaine purity levels and the unprecedented "advertising" campaign by the media highlighting this new "drug scourge."

Ultimately, if we really want to reduce the harms of drugs we need to look at all drugs separately and not as a homogenous group. The proposed legislation is the complete antithesis to that approach.

Take cannabis, for example. As most people know the Netherlands has permitted legal use of cannabis through the coffee shops since the 1980s and has little recorded use of synthetic cannabinoids. Indeed why would people access something synthetic when they can get the real thing? Conversely, synthetic cannabis use is on the rise in the UK especially amongst young people and certain vulnerable groups including prisoners. This group of substances is thought to be much more dangerous than the home grown variety, with some manufacturers claiming that the potency is 20 - 30 times higher than cannabis.

It is our current drug policy that has resulted in this situation occurring. We know that continuously banning drugs rarely diminishes use and never makes the problem go away - ketamine use in the UK has doubled since it was made illegal in 2006.

As well as considering how the market interacts in relation to the available products, it is also worth thinking about what happens when we make a substance illegal. We hand that substance over to the illicit market, where there are no product or purity controls, no age controls, where drugs are adulterated and the risk associated with their use increases. People are put at a greater risk of harm as a result of prohibition.

The reality is that people want to use drugs; many people enjoy the pleasure associated with specific substances, something we cannot ignore. A small percentage - about 10% - use drugs problematically but that is a more complicated situation, where people who have often suffered trauma or have mental health problems are self-medicating.

One in three adults have used a drug at least once in their lifetime, including, funnily enough, a number of politicians. The current Prime Minister won't answer the question on his drug use but we can assume; many Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet members have admitted to their past use, the current US President and the last two all admitted to using cannabis, with Obama admitting to using cocaine when at college. Prohibition did not prevent their drug use, they were just lucky/privileged enough not to get caught and end up with a criminal record like so many millions of others, but they are an example of the reality of the situation. Lots of people use drugs and the criminal justice approach does not deter use.

What we at Release would like to see is a new approach to drugs. Let's start with the end of criminal sanctions for possession of all drugs - it is welcomed that this Bill will not criminalise people caught in possession of NPS, but why not all currently illicit substances?

The Home Office's own report of October 2014 highlighted that, based on the evidence, tough sanctions does not deter use. It would be good if Ministers finally followed the evidence produced by their own departments instead of opting for an ideologically driven, myopic approach. Once decriminalised we take a step by step approach to each drug, starting with cannabis, and work out the best and safest way to regulate these substances so as to mitigate their harms. To be frank if we start with cannabis and MDMA we would undermine the whole NPS market immediately!

Niamh Eastwood is the executive director of Release, the UK centre of expertise on drugs and drug laws

Legalise cannabis & MDMA & we would near enough kill the RC market dead. Add cocaine & LSD/shrooms to that & that's it, RC scene dead.

from - http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/nia...6.html?1432807382&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067
 
How can you possibly ban ALL psychoactive substances?

Coffee and alcohol are also psychoactive as well as prozac, all psychiatric meds, benedryl and over the counter sleep meds, etc.
You clearly haven't followed the link I provided to read the article. They said alcohol, coffee and cigarettes are exempt from the ban, nothing was mentioned about benedryl and other crap, but I'm sure they'll figure it out somehow.
This sounds like a lotta bullshit tho.
I wish it was bullshit, but unfortunately, it's really happening :(
 
Ban it all, Prohibition worked perfectly well, didn't it?!

Smack, Crack and Meth; the prototypical illicit psychotropics, illegal in nigh on every jurisdiction on Earth, with Draconian and scarcely believable punishments for anyone involved in their use or supply - all just a phone call, or Onion encrypted search, away. Funny, isn't it?

All this will do is create a legislative nightmare, allow the cartels to profit from the newly created illegal drugs, and wreak havoc on the healthcare system when every person with a benzo problem floods in or dies of withdrawal.

EDIT: Post 3,000!
 
Will be interesting to see how many RCs will stand the test of time once the ban comes in. I know meph still has an audience, but can't see many others having enough fans to warrant continued manufacture if the more established illegals are no more difficult to get hold of.
 
I wonder how much of an impact it would have on the Chinese economy? =D

As long as I can still get 3-FPM and maybe MPA, I'll be happy.
 
It'll be the fallout of the opium wars revisited, except this time with sketchy stims. Be afraid. Be very afraid =D
 
it'll happen. you ungrateful fucks have taken it for granted for too long. the time has come.
 
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