Psychoactive Substances Bill [HL]

Page 1, line 3,
after “about” insert “reviewing the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and”

Page 1, line 7,
at end insert—

“( )     Section (Control of Cannabis) provides for legal possession and supply of
cannabis prescribed by a doctor.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Republic of Ireland: impact assessment

(1)     The Secretary of State must conduct an impact assessment of the Republic
of Ireland’s Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Act 2010.

(2)     The Secretary of State must publish a report setting out whether or not the
impact assessment under subsection (1) justifies the commencement of this
Act in its current form.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Monitoring

Following the commencement of this Act, the Secretary of State must
publish a report annually setting out the impact of this Act, including on
deaths and other harms caused by all controlled and banned substances.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Review of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971

(1)     The Secretary of State shall commission an independent evidence-based

review of—

(a)   the effectiveness of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in reducing the
harm caused by the misuse of drugs, including social problems
connected with their misuse, and

(b)   the implementation of the Act.

(2)     The Secretary of State shall lay a copy of a report of the review before both
Houses of Parliament within one year of the passing of this Act.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Impact assessment

(1)     The Secretary of State must, following commencement of this Act, conduct
an annual impact assessment of this Act, including deaths and other harms
caused by all controlled substances and banned substances.

(2)     If it is deemed that the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 or this Act (or both) has
contributed to increased health and social harms, the government shall
bring forward proposals for reform.

Page 1, line 14,
after “Act”” insert “synthetic”

Page 1, line 16,
after “it,” insert—

“( )   is produced by chemical synthesis, especially not of natural origin,”

Page 2, line 1,
leave out “affects the person’s mental functioning or emotional state”

and insert “has the capacity to—

(a)   produce stimulation or depression of the central nervous system of
the person, resulting in hallucinations or a significant disturbance
in, or significant change to, motor function, thinking, behaviour,
perception, awareness or mood, or

(b)   cause a state of dependence, including physical or psychological
addiction”

Page 2, line 4, leave out “or allows”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Guidance

The Secretary of State must issue guidance, before this Act comes into force
and regularly updated thereafter, as to how users, enforcement authorities
and others can identify individual psychoactive substances, the degree of
the psychoactivity, their safe uses and their relative harms.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Provision of information

Before this Act comes into force the Secretary of State must provide—

(a)   a publicly accessible website containing comprehensive
information about all psychoactive substances, including
controlled substances, which he has reason to believe are or may be
available to consumers in the United Kingdom,

(b)   a network of testing centres, readily accessible at no charge to users
and others, at which they can be informed about the identity,
composition, toxicity and potential harms to human health of any
substances brought in by them which there is reason to think may
be psychoactive.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Education

(1)     The Secretary of State shall require that all children of secondary school age
receive education designed to teach them about the realities of
psychoactive substances (whether controlled or otherwise) and develop
them as persons who are informed, risk-aware, resilient and responsible in
relation to psychoactive substances.

(2)     Ofsted and equivalent agencies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
shall, in the course of their normal inspections of secondary schools of all
kinds, inspect the performance of individual schools in drug education and
include their findings on this in the reports which they issue on those
schools.

(3)     Ofsted and equivalent agencies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
shall publish an annual report on the state of drug education in schools in
each nation of the UK, together with recommendations.

(4)     The Secretary of State shall monitor the programmes and resources
available to schools to support their teaching about psychoactive
substances of all sorts (including both controlled and exempted
substances).”

Page 2, line 8,
at end insert—

“( )   add any substance;”

Page 2, line 9, leave out “or vary”

Page 2, line 10,
at end insert—

“(2A)    The Secretary of State must add a substance to Schedule 1 under subsection
(2)(a) if it is deemed to pose low health, social and safety risks.

(2B)    A substance is deemed to pose low health, social and safety risks under
subsection (2A) if it is so determined by an independent committee
comprising experts nominated by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the
8British Pharmacological Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences.”

Line 2, leave out “a substance” and insert “certain substances”

Line 7,
at end insert—

“(2C)    These substances must included one stimulant, one depressant and one
hallucinogenic.”

(2D)    Before adding these substances, which may be substances at present
controlled under the provisions of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, the
Secretary of State must be satisfied that he has established a regime of
appropriate regulation in relation to each of them.”

Page 2, line 10,
at end insert—

“(2A)    The Secretary of State must make regulations under subsection (2) to
implement any recommendations of the Medicines and Healthcare

Products Regulatory Agency to amend Schedule 1 in order to—

(a)   add any substance;

(b)   add or vary any description of any substance; or

(c)   remove any substance added under subsection (2).

(2B)    The Secretary of State must make regulations under subsection (2) to

provide for a substance to be included in Schedule 1 where—

(a)   the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, or

(b)   the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs,

determines that the substance poses a low overall risk.”

Page 2, line 12,
leave out “such” and insert “the Advisory Council on the Misuse of
Drugs and such other”

Page 2, line 12,
at end insert “and publish a report of the responses to the
consultation”

Page 2, line 17,
at end insert—

“( )     
For the purposes of this section, “low overall risk” means that on balance
the substance poses a low risk of having harmful effects sufficient to
constitute a social problem.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Possession of controlled drugs

(1)     The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is amended as follows.

(2)     Omit section 5(1) and (2).

(3)     
After section 5 insert—

Page 34, line 5,
at end insert “except to the extent necessary to give effect to section
(Possession of controlled drugs)”

Page 34, line 7,
leave out paragraph 2 and insert—

“2     All medicinal products prescribed by a doctor or sold by a licensed
pharmacist.”

Page 34, line 13,
leave out paragraph 3 and insert—

“3     All research pharmaceuticals being used to develop new medicines or
progress neuroscience research.”

Page 34, line 16,
at end insert—

“      Low non-psychoactive doses of psychoactive substances.”

Page 34, line 22,
at end insert—

“Substances subject to research and development

  (1)     Any product which is in the process of being developed and the
development of which is for medicinal or therapeutic purposes or non-
recreational purposes.

(2)     
“Non-recreational purposes” may include—

(a)   reducing social harm,

(b)   reducing long-term risks associated with another substance,

(c)   a purpose which would not require the substance to be
consumed, or

(d)   any other purpose designated by the Secretary of State in
regulations made by statutory instrument.

(3)     A statutory instrument containing regulations under sub-paragraph
(2)(d) may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid
before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.”

Page 34, leave out lines 25 to 29

Page 34, line 29,
after “any” insert “other”

Page 35, line 7,
after “any” insert “other”

Page 35, line 12,
after “any” insert “other”

Page 35, line 20,
after “substance” insert “other than a substance or product
exempted under any other paragraph of this Schedule”

Page 35, line 22, at end insert “or other applicable”

Page 2, line 22,
leave out “suspects” and insert “thinks”

Page 2, line 36,
leave out “suspects” and insert “thinks”

Page 2, line 36,
leave out “suspect” and insert “think”

Page 3, line 6, leave out subsection (3)

Insert the following new Clause—

“Possession for personal use

Possession for personal use of any psychoactive substances, including
psychoactive substances hitherto controlled under the provisions of the
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, is not a criminal offence.”

Page 3, line 16,
leave out “or B” and insert “, B or C”

Page 3, line 16,
leave out “or B” and insert “B, C or D”

Page 3, line 28,
at end insert—

“( )     Condition C is that the offence was committed on or in the vicinity of any
premises intended to locate any vulnerable child.

( )     
In this section “vulnerable child” means any person aged under 18 who is

not living with their family and is—

(a)   accommodated in regulated residential care or unregulated
accommodation under section 17, 20, 25 or 31 of the Children Act
1989; or

(b)   accommodated in independent or semi-independent
accommodation under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996.

( )     Condition D is that the offender supplies a psychoactive substance to any
persons under the age of 18.”

Page 3, line 32, leave out “psychoactive”

Page 3, line 38,
at end insert—

“( )     Condition C is that the offence was committed on prison premises.”

Page 4, line 17,
at end insert “other than for the person’s own consumption”

Page 4, line 22, leave out sub-paragraph (i)

Page 5, line 31,
leave out “such” and insert “the Advisory Council on the Misuse of
Drugs and such other”

Page 5, line 31,
at end insert “and publish a report of the responses to the
consultation”

Page 5, line 35,
at end insert—

“( )     Regulations providing for specified medical research activity to be
excluded from the application of the offences under this Act shall be laid
before each House of Parliament within one week of sections 4 to 10
coming into force.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Control of cannabis

(1)     Within six months of the passing of this Act, the Secretary of State shall

make regulations to amend the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001—

(a)   to omit from Schedule 1 to the regulations the substances listed in
subsection (2); and

(b)   to add those substances to Schedule 2 to the regulations.

(2)     
The substances referred to in subsection (1) are—

(a)   cannabis; and

(b)   cannabis resin.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Licences for sale of psychoactive substances

(1)     The Secretary of State shall within one year after the passing of this Act

make regulations for the licensing of—

(a)   specified persons;

(b)   specified premises;

to sell psychoactive substances determined to pose low overall risk and
exempted under Schedule 1 by regulations made under section 3.

(2)     Before making any regulations under this section, the Secretary of State

must consult—

(a)   representatives of chief officers of police, local authorities and small
businesses, and

(b)   such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(3)     
Regulations under this section may—

(a)   make different provision for different purposes, and

(b)   contain incidental, supplemental, consequential or transitional
provision or savings.

(4)     The power to make regulations under this section is exercisable by
statutory instrument.

(5)     A statutory instrument containing regulations under this section may not
be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before, and
approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.

(6)     In this section “specified” means specified in regulations.”

Page 6, line 8,
at end insert “other than for his own consumption”

Page 6, line 10, leave out paragraph (f)

Page 6, line 11,
at end insert—

“( )     For the purposes of this section, the provision of advice or information as
to the reduction of harm shall not be a prohibited activity within paragraph
(f)”

Page 6, line 23,
at end insert—

“( )     In the case of reasonable belief under subsection (3) that the person is likely
to carry on the activity, the prohibition notice must set out the reasons for
that belief.”

Page 6, line 35,
leave out “police officer (or, in Scotland, a constable)” and insert
“constable”

Page 6, line 41,
leave out “and B” and insert “, B and C”

Page 7, line 10,
at end insert—

“( )     In the case of reasonable belief under subsection (3) that the person is likely
to carry on the activity, the premises notice must set out the reasons for that
belief.”

Page 7, line 12,
leave out “prohibition” and insert “premises”

Page 7, line 14,
at end insert—

“( )     Condition C is that the person to whom the notice is given is informed that
failure to comply with the notice may result in court proceedings.”

Page 7, line 31, at end insert “acting on behalf of the same person as that officer”

Page 7, line 41,
at end insert “, or

( )   subject to subsection (8), sending it to the person by electronic
means.”

Page 8, line 9,
after second “the” insert “address of the”

Page 8, line 20,
at end insert—

“(8)     
A notice may be sent to a person by electronic means only if—

(a)   the person has indicated that notices of the same description as a
notice under section 12, 13 or 14 (as the case may be) may be given
to the person by being sent to an electronic address and in an
electronic form specified for that purpose, and

(b)   the notice is sent to that address in that form.

(9)     
In subsection (8) “electronic address” means any number or address used
for the purposes of sending or receiving documents or information by

electronic means.”

Page 8, line 35,
leave out “on the balance of probabilities” and insert “beyond
reasonable doubt”

Page 9, line 19,
at end insert “an individual who is”

Page 9, line 24, at end insert “an individual who is”

Page 10, line 18,
leave out “on the balance of probabilities” and insert “beyond
reasonable doubt”

Page 11, line 18,
leave out “police officer” and insert “constable”

Page 11, line 20,
leave out “police officer” and insert “constable”

Page 11, line 32,
leave out from beginning to “the” in line 33 and insert “A court
making a prohibition order or a premises order, or a court varying such an order
under or by virtue of any of sections 24 to 27, may by the order impose any
prohibitions, restrictions or requirements that”

Page 12, line 2,
at end insert—

“( )     An item that is handed over in compliance with a requirement imposed by

virtue of subsection (4) may not be disposed of—

(a)   before the end of the period within which an appeal may be made
against the imposition of the requirement (ignoring any power to
appeal out of time), or

(b)   if such an appeal is made, before it is determined or otherwise dealt
with.”

Page 12, line 19,
at end insert—

“( )     Subsection (6) of section
13 (when a person “owns” premises) applies for
the purposes of subsection (5) of this section as it applies for the purposes
of that section.”

Page 12, line 46,
at end insert “, a designated NCA officer, a general customs official
or a person authorised by a person listed in subsection (2A).

(2A)    
Those persons are—

(a)   the chief officer of police for a police area, in the case of an order
made in England and Wales;

(b)   the chief constable of the Police Service of Scotland, in the case of an
order made in Scotland;

(c)   the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, in the
case of an order made in Northern Ireland;

(d)   the chief constable of the British Transport Police Force, in the case
of an order made in England and Wales or Scotland;

(e)   the Director General of the National Crime Agency;

(f)   the Secretary of State by whom general customs functions are
exercisable.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Access prohibitions: reimbursement of costs

(1)     A person listed in subsection (2) that incurs expenditure for the purpose of
clearing, securing or maintaining premises in respect of which an access
prohibition is in effect (see section 21(5)) may apply to the court for an order
under this section.

(2)     
Those persons are—

(a)   a local policing body;

(b)   the Scottish Police Authority;

(c)   the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland;

(d)   the British Transport Police Authority;

(e)   the Director General of the National Crime Agency;

(f)   the Secretary of State by whom general customs functions are
exercisable;

(g)   a local authority.

(3)     On an application under this section the court may make whatever order it
considers appropriate for the reimbursement (in full or in part) by the
person against whom the order imposing the access prohibition was made
of the expenditure mentioned in subsection (1).

(4)     An application for an order under this section may not be heard unless it is
made before the end of the period of 3 months starting with the day on
which the access prohibition ceases to have effect.

(5)     An application under this section must be served on the person against
whom the order imposing the access prohibition was made.

(6)     
In this section “the court” means—

(a)   the court that made the prohibition order or the premises order
imposing the access prohibition, except where paragraph (b) or (c)
applies;

(b)   where the court that made the order was the Court of Appeal, the
Crown Court;

(c)   where the court that made the order was a youth court but the
person against whom the order was made is aged 18 or over at the

time of the application, a magistrates’ court or, in Northern Ireland,
a court of summary jurisdiction.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Access prohibitions: exemption from liability

(1)     Neither an authorised person, nor the person under whose direction or
control the authorised person acts, is to be liable in damages for anything
done, or omitted to be done, by the authorised person in the exercise or
purported exercise of a power under section 22.

(2)     Subsection (1) does not apply to an act or omission shown to have been in
bad faith.

(3)     Subsection (1) does not apply so as to prevent an award of damages made
in respect of an act or omission on the ground that the act or omission was
unlawful by virtue of section 6(1) of the Human Rights Act 1998.

(4)     This section does not affect any other exemption from liability (whether at
common law or otherwise).

(5)     In this section “authorised person” has the same meaning as in section 22.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Offence of failing to comply with an access prohibition, etc

(1)     This section applies where a prohibition order or a premises order imposes
an access prohibition (see section 21(5)).

(2)     A person, other than the person against whom the order was made, who
without reasonable excuse remains on or enters premises in contravention
of the access prohibition commits an offence.

(3)     A person who without reasonable excuse obstructs a person acting under
section 22(1) commits an offence.

(4)     
A person guilty of an offence under subsection (2) or (3) is liable—

(a)   on summary conviction in England and Wales, to either or both of

the following—

(i)   imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks (or 6
months, if the offence was committed before the
commencement of section 281(5) of the Criminal Justice Act
2003);

(ii)   a fine;

(b)   on summary conviction in Scotland, to either or both of the

following—

(i)   imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months;

(ii)   a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale;

(c)   on summary conviction in Northern Ireland, to either or both of the

following—

(i)   imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months;

(ii)   a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.”

Page 14, line 28,
at end insert—

“( )     An order that has been varied under this section remains an order of the
court that first made it for the purposes of—

(a)   section (Access prohibitions: reimbursement of costs);

(b)   any further application under this section.”

Page 14, line 40, leave out “section” and insert “sections (Access prohibitions:
reimbursement of costs) and”

Page 15, line 15,
at end insert—

“( )     An appeal under subsection (1) against the making of an order must be
made before the end of the period of 28 days starting with the date of the
order.”

Page 15, line 17,
at end insert “, and may also make such incidental or
consequential orders as appear to it to be just.”

Page 15, line 19, leave out “section” and insert “sections (Access prohibitions:
reimbursement of costs) and”

Page 16, line 16,
at end insert—

“( )     An appeal under subsection (1) against the making of a decision must be
made before the end of the period of 28 days starting with the date of the
decision.”

Page 16, line 17,
leave out “Crown Court may” and insert “court hearing the appeal
may (to the extent it would not otherwise have power to do so)”

Page 16, line 19,
at end insert—

“( )     A prohibition order or a premises order that has been varied by virtue of
subsection (4) remains an order of the court that first made it for the
purposes of sections (Access prohibitions: reimbursement of costs) and 24.”

Page 17, line 11, after “18” insert “, (Access prohibitions: reimbursement of costs)”

Page 18, line 31,
at end insert—

“( )   an individual against whom a prohibition order imposing an access
prohibition has been made reaches the age of 18 whilst proceedings
before a youth court under section (Access prohibitions:
reimbursement of costs) are ongoing.”

Page 20, line 33,
after “a” insert “relevant enforcement officer or a”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Report on use of stop and search powers

(1)     The Secretary of State shall make a report to Parliament each year on the
use of powers to stop and search persons and vehicles and of other search
warrants under the powers created in this Act.

(2)     The report shall include statistical and other information which it appears
appropriate to the Secretary of State to include as to the numbers of
individuals stopped and searched under these powers, their ethnicity and
other socio-economic characteristics, the grounds upon which these
powers have been used, and the numbers of people subsequently made
subject to the various enforcement measures provided for in this Act.”

Page 35, line 36,
at end insert—

“( )     In the case of an application made by a procurator fiscal, any
requirement imposed on a person applying for a search warrant by this
paragraph or paragraph 2 may be met by a relevant enforcement
officer.”

Page 36, leave out lines 20 and 21

Page 36, line 27,
at end insert—

“( )     
In this paragraph “specific-premises warrant” and “all-premises
warrant” have the meaning given by section 35(3).”

Page 38, line 23,
after “warrant” insert “issued in England and Wales or Northern
Ireland”

Page 38, line 35, leave out paragraph (b)

Page 26, line 35,
leave out from beginning to first “the” in line 44 and insert—

“(3)     
If the court is satisfied that—

(a)   the item is a psychoactive substance, and

(b)   at the time of its seizure, the item was not being used for the
purposes of, or in connection with, an exempted activity (see
subsection (12)) carried on by a person entitled to the item,

the court must order the forfeiture of the item.

(4)     If the item is not a psychoactive substance,”

Page 27, line 3,
leave out “body” and insert “person”

Page 27, line 34,
at end insert “an individual who is”

Page 27, line 39,
at end insert “an individual who is”

Page 27, line 42,
leave out subsection (12) and insert—

“(12)    
For the purposes of this section—

(a)   
an activity is an “exempted activity” in relation to a person if the
carrying on of the activity by that person would not be an offence
under this Act by virtue of regulations under section 10;

(b)   
the persons “entitled” to an item are—

(i)   the person from whom it was seized;

(ii)   (if different) any person to whom it belongs.”

Page 29, line 16,
after “is” insert “an individual who is”

Page 29, line 21,
after “is” insert “an individual who is”

Page 29, line 30,
at end insert—

“( )     
In this section “the court” means—

(a)   the court by or before which the person is convicted of the offence,
or

(b)   if the person is committed to the Crown Court to be dealt with for
that offence, the Crown Court.”

Page 29, line 31, leave out “by which the person is convicted”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Secretary of State’s duty to increase public awareness of new psychoactive
substances

(1)     The Secretary of State must establish a scheme to promote public
awareness of new psychoactive substances, including the dangers these
substances may pose.

(2)     The duty referred to in subsection (1) includes, but is not limited to, the

requirement to introduce measures to—

(a)   increase public awareness of new psychoactive substances; and

(b)   assist schools in educating pupils about the dangers associated with
new psychoactive substances.

(3)     The Secretary of State must publish, and lay before each House of
Parliament, a report on the actions undertaken in pursuance of this section,
within six months of the passing of this Act and annually thereafter.

(4)     
The report shall include, but not be limited to—

(a)   measures that have been taken to increase public awareness,
including the cost of such measures;

(b)   measures that have been taken to assist schools in educating their
pupils;

(c)   a subsequent review of the effectiveness of the measures taken; and

(d)   any further measures that the Secretary of State plans to undertake
in the future.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Annual reporting

(1)     The Secretary of State must publish an annual report on new psychoactive
substances, subject to subsections (2) and (3).

(2)     The report must be published, and a copy laid before each House of
Parliament, within six months of the passing of this Act and annually
thereafter.

(3)     
The report shall include—

(a)   the number of prosecutions, convictions and sentences for offences
under sections 4 to 8 of this Act;

(b)   the operation of powers created under sections 12, 13 and 32 to 35;

(c)   the number of new psychoactive substances identified in the UK;

(d)   the number of hospital admissions linked to new psychoactive

substances which were—

(i)   poisonings;

(ii)   mental health related; and

(iii)   other;

(e)   the number of new psychoactive substances controlled under the
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971; and

(f)   the number of exemptions for psychoactive substances granted
under section 3.”

Page 45, line 36,
at end insert—

“Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2003

2A     In Schedule 2A to the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2003 (powers and

duties of community support officer), after paragraph 9 insert—

Page 47, line 11, leave out from beginning to “or” in line 12

Page 48, line 23,
at end insert—

“Misuse of Drugs Act 1971

1   (1)     

Page 33, line 7,
leave out subsection (1) and insert—

“(1)     This section comes into force on the day on which this Act is passed.”

Page 33, line 9, after “sections” insert “(Control of cannabis),”

Page 33, line 9, leave out “53, 55” and insert “(Review of the Misuse of Drugs Act
1971), 53”

Page 33, line 10, leave out paragraph (b)

Page 33, line 12,
at end insert “but not before both Houses of Parliament have
debated the conclusions of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session
on Drugs in 2016”

Page 33, line 12,
at end insert—

“( )     The Secretary of State may not make regulations under subsection (2) until
she has published a report under section (Republic of Ireland: impact
assessment).”

Page 33, line 13,
at end insert—

“( )   not be made within six months after the Secretary of State has laid
a copy of the report of the review under section (Review of the Misuse
of Drugs Act 1971)(2)”