Misuse of Drugs Act 1971^[1]

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make new provision with respect to dangerous or otherwise harmful drugs and related matters, and for purposes connected therewith.
Citation	1971 c. 38
Introduced by	Reginald Maudling
Territorial extent	England and Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland
Dates
Royal assent	27 May 1971
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

TheMisuse of Drugs Act 1971^[1] (c. 38) is anact of theParliament of the United Kingdom. It represents action in line withtreaty commitments under theSingle Convention on Narcotic Drugs,^[2] theConvention on Psychotropic Substances,^[3] and theUnited Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.^[4]

Offences under the act include:^[5]

• Possession of acontrolled drug unlawfully
• Possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply it
• Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug (even where no charge is made for the drug)
• Allowing premises you occupy or manage to be used unlawfully for the purpose of producing or supplying controlled drugs

The act establishes theHome Secretary as the principal authority in a druglicensing system. Therefore, for example, variousopiates are available legally as prescription-only medicines, andcannabis (hemp)^[6] may be grown under licence for 'industrial purposes'. TheMisuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/3998),^[7] created under the 1971 Act, are about licensing of production, possession and supply of substances classified under the act. These created drug 'schedules', under which the supply of drugs are controlled.

The act creates three classes of controlled substances, A, B, and C, and ranges of penalties for illegal or unlicensed possession and possession with intent to supply are graded differently within each class. The lists of substances within each class can be amended byOrder in Council, so the Home Secretary can list new drugs and upgrade, downgrade or delist previously controlled drugs with less of the bureaucracy and delay associated with passing an act through bothHouses of Parliament.

Critics of the act such asDavid Nutt say that its classification is not based on how harmful or addictive the substances are, and that it is unscientific to omit substances like tobacco and alcohol.

These drugs are known in theUK ascontrolled drug, because this is the term by which the act itself refers to them. In more general terms, however, many of these drugs are also controlled by theMedicines Act 1968, there are many other drugs which are controlled by the Medicines Act but not by the Misuse of Drugs Act, and some other drugs (alcohol, for example) are controlled by other laws.

The act sets out four separate categories: Class A, Class B, Class C and temporary class drugs. Substances may be removed and added to different parts of the schedule bystatutory instrument, provided a report of theAdvisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has been commissioned and has reached a conclusion, although theSecretary of State is not bound by the council's findings.

• Class A includescocaine,heroin,morphine,oxycodone,fentanyl,MDMA ("ecstasy"),methamphetamine,opium,LSD,hydrocodone,DMT,mescaline extracts,^[a] andpsilocybin/psilocin (magic mushrooms).
• Class B includescannabis,synthetic and semisynthetic cannabinoids,ketamine,amphetamine,codeine,methcathinone,barbiturates,mephedrone,methaqualone,methylphenidate,GHB, andGBL. Any class B drug that is prepared for injection use becomes a class A substance.
• Class C includesbenzodiazepines,xylazine,pregabalin, and most other non-barbiturate tranquillisers;tramadol,gabapentin;anabolic steroids,nitrous oxide,khat,substituted piperazines, andsubstituted cathinones.
• All other psychoactive drugs exceptalcohol,caffeine, andtobacco (or other approvednicotine preparations) are controlled under thePsychoactive Substances Act 2016 andMedicines Act 1968.

In reality the potential harm has little bearing on the class,^[8] which has led to dissatisfaction with drug laws.^[9]

Substances may be removed and added to different parts of the schedule bystatutory instrument, provided a report of the ACMD has been commissioned and has reached a conclusion, although theSecretary of State is not bound by the council's findings. This list has in practice been modified a great number of times, sometimes removing substances, but more commonly adding some; for example, manybenzodiazepines became Class C drugs in 1985, and manycathinones became Class B drugs in 2010.

1. The following substances:^{[10][non-primary source needed]}

N.B. Sub-paragraphs (b) and (c) were added in 1977,^[17] sub-paragraphs (d) and (e) were added in 1986. Sub-paragraph (ba) was subsequently added in 2001.^[18]

(b) any compound structurally derived fromtryptamine or from a ring-hydroxy tryptamine by modification.

(ba) a number ofphenethylamine derivatives.^[19][20]

(c) compounds structurally derived fromphenethylamine anN-alkylphenethylamine, amethylphenethylamine, anN-alkyl-α-methylphenethylamine, anethylphenethylamine, or anN-alkyl-α-ethylphenethylamine by certain modifications.

(d) compounds structurally derived fromfentanyl by certain modifications.

(e) compounds structurally derived frompethidine by certain modifications.

(ea) any compound with a maximum molecular mass of 500 atomic mass units and structurally derived from 2-(2-benzyl-benzimidazol-1-yl)ethanamine.

(f) any compound structurally derived frommescaline, 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxy-α-methylphenethylamine, 2,5-dimethoxy-α,4-dimethylphenethylamine,N-hydroxytenamphetamine (N-hydroxy-MDA), or a compound specified in sub-paragraph (ba) or (c) above, by substitution at the nitrogen atom of the amino group with a benzyl substituent, whether or not substituted in the phenyl ring of the benzyl group to any extent.

2. Anystereoisomeric of a class A substance, excludingdextromethorphan ordextrorphan.

3. Anyester orether of a class A substance (that is not listed as a class B substance).

4. Anysalt of a class A substance.

5. Any preparation or other product containing a class A substance

6. Any preparation of a class B substance designed for administration byinjection.

1. The following substances:^{[10][non-primary source needed]}

(a)

(aa)^[27]Compounds structurally derived from 2–amino–1–phenyl–1–propanone by certain modifications.

(ab)^[27]Compounds structurally derived from 2–aminopropan–1–one by certain modifications.

(b)any 5,5 disubstitutedbarbituric acid.

(c)^[28]and (ca)^[29]A number of categories ofsynthetic cannabinoids.

(d)^[28]1-Phenylcyclohexylamine or compounds structurally derived from 1-phenylcyclohexylamine or 2-amino-2-phenylcyclohexanone by certain modifications (that are not already class A substances).

(e)Any compound structurally derived from 1-benzofuran, 2,3-dihydro-1-benzofuran, 1H-indole, indoline, 1H-indene, or indane by certain modifications.

2. Anystereoisomeric form of a class B substance.

3. Anysalt of a class B substance.

4. Any preparation or other product containing a class B substance, exluding those designed for administration byinjection which are class A.

1. The following substances:^{[10][non-primary source needed]}

(a)

N.B. Sub-paragraphs (b), (c), (d) and (e) all refer toanabolic steroids that were banned in 1996^[36] (unless referenced otherwise):

(b)

(c)Compounds structurally derived from17-hydroxyandrostan-3-one or from17-hydroxyestran-3-one by certain modifications, excludingTrilostane or a compounds listed above.

(ca)1–benzylpiperazine or compounds structurally derived from 1–benzylpiperazine or1–phenylpiperazine by certain modifications.

(d)any substance which is anester and/orether of a substance specified in (b) or (c) above.

(e)

• Chorionic gonadotropin
• Clenbuterol
• Non-human chorionic gonadotrophin
• Somatotropin
• Somatrem
• Somatropin

The act contains several references to "derivatives" of compounds but the extent of this term is not fully clarified. Where unspecified it is thought to indicate derivatives which can be made from the specified compound in a single synthetic step, although such a definition would indicate that alkyllysergamide analogues would be uncontrolled. Where the derivatives are specified to be "structural derivatives" there is precedent that the statute applies whenever the structure could be converted to thespecified derivatives in any number of synthetic steps.^[37]

The penalties for drug offences depend on the class of drug involved. These penalties are enforced against those who do not have a validprescription or licence to possess the drug in question. Thus, it is not illegal for someone to possess heroin, a Class A drug, so long as it was administered to them legally (by prescription).

Class A drugs attract the highest penalty, and imprisonment is both "proper and expedient".^[38] The maximum penalties possible are as follows:^[39]

The act makes it a crime to assist in, incite, or induce, the commission of an offence, outside the UK, against another nation's corresponding law on drugs. A corresponding law is defined as another country's law "providing for the control and regulation in that country of the production, supply, use, export and import of drugs and other substances in accordance with the provisions of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs" or another drug control treaty to which the UK and the other country are parties. An example might be lending money to aUnited States drug dealer for the purpose of violating that country'sControlled Substances Act.

The acts allow and regulate the use of someControlled Drugs (designatedCD) by various classes of persons (e.g. doctors) acting in their professional capacity. TheRoyal Pharmaceutical Society maintains a live database of the legal classification of medicines.^[41] Special responsibilities are placed upon pharmaceutical wholesalers, pharmacies and doctors in the stocking, distribution, issuing of prescriptions, supply and disposal of items listed under the first three of the schedules. The regulations have been further tightened since Dr.Harold Shipman useddiamorphine to murder hundreds of his patients during the late 20th century.

Drugs which are not used medically, and thus their possession and supply is prohibited; e.g.DMT andLSD except when licensed by theHome Office to carry out research.

Substances subject to the full controlled drug requirements; e.g.Cannabis,diamorphine (heroin),pethidine,cocaine,methadone,methylphenidate,dextroamphetamine,fentanyl andoxycodone. Under the Act, a prescription for these drugs need to show full details including the form and strength of the preparation, with the total quantity written out in both words and figures. It is an offence for a doctor to issue an incomplete prescription or for a pharmacist to dispense a controlled drug unless all the required details are given.

It is the prescriber's responsibility to minimize the risk of dependence or misuse by ensuring that such drugs are not started for a particular patient without good cause, that the dose is not increased to the point where dependency is more likely, and to avoid being an unwitting source of supply for addicts. The quantities of controlled drugs prescribed should match the likely needs of the patients until the next clinical review and prescription forms should be secured against theft.

Requirements for safe custody in pharmacies apply to all Sch 2 Controlled Drugs except quinalbarbitone.

The safe custody requirements ensure that pharmacists and doctors holding stock of controlled drugs must store them in securely fixed double-locked steel safety cabinets. In addition to traditional written registers, which must be bound, contain separate entries for each drug, and be written in ink with no use of correction fluid, electronic controlled drugs registers are now also permitted under theMisuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 (as amended). These electronic systems must comply with specific regulatory standards to ensure the accurate recording and tracking of controlled substances, and there area range of commercially available electronic CD registers. Disposal of expired stock must be witnessed by a designated inspector (either a police officer or a suitably qualified official).

Until 2005 prescriptions for most schedule 2 & 3 drugs required certain details to be handwritten by the prescriber, unless he or she held a handwriting exemption certificate.The Shipman Inquiry however, found that this was one of the weaknesses in the audit system. Whereas computer generated prescriptions automatically left an audit trail which was easy to follow, handwritten prescriptions did not, even though all filed prescriptions are eventually sent to a central UK depositary. Therefore, good practice now calls for these prescriptions to be computer generated.^[42]

Include drugs subject to the same prescription requirements as Schedule 2 drugs, but without the requirement to maintain registers. With the exception of phenobarbitone or related drugs for treatment of epilepsy, no Sch 3 drug can be given as an emergency supply.Safe custody is currently only required for Tenuate Dospan (diethylpropion),buprenorphine products, temazepam and flunitrazepam (Rohypnol). Neither phenobarbitone nor midazolam require safe custody. Other Sch 3 drugs can be stored in the general dispensary.

Controlled drug prescription requirements and safe custody requirements do not apply. Included drugs areBenzodiazepines (Subclass CD Benz), other thantemazepam,flunitrazepam ormidazolam, and androgenic and anabolicsteroids (Subclass CD Anab). However CD Benz products- which also include mild stimulants such asmesocarb andfencamfamine, formerly prescribed as anorectics- are illegal to supply or possess without prescription and all Sch 4 drugs cannot be legally supplied without medical authority.

As of April 2014 "Sativex", the cannabis derived medicine prescribed forspasticity due to Multiple Sclerosis, is listed as a Schedule 4 Part 1 drug, whereas before that date it was a Schedule 1 drug requiring reporting and recording protocols (as earlier indicated on this page).^[43]

Includes items which, because of their strength, are exempt from all requirements other than the need to retain invoices for two years.

TheDrugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act 1964 controlledamphetamines in the United Kingdom in advance of international agreements and was later used to controlLSD.

Before 1971, the UK had a relatively liberal drugs policy and it was not untilUnited Nations influence had been brought to bear that controlling incidental drug activities was employed to effectively criminalise drugs use. It is noted that bar the smoking ofopium and cannabis; section 8, part d, under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 was not an offence (relating to the prosecution of the owner of a premises/building inside of which controlled drugs were being used). Section 8 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971^[44] was amended by regulation 13 ofMisuse of Drugs Regulations 1985 (SI 1985/2066)^[45] and section 38 of theCriminal Justice and Police Act 2001.^[46] These amendments were, however, repealed in 2005 by Schedule 1 (part 6) of the Drugs Act 2005.^[47][48]

The current section 8 covers:people knowingly allowing premises they own, manage, or have responsibility for, to be used by any other person for:

• administration or use of anycontrolled drug
• supply of any controlled drug
• the production or cultivation of controlled drugs, (such as growing cannabis, makingcrystal meth, preparingmagic mushrooms).^[49]

Notable criticism of the act includes:

• Drug classification: making a hash of it?, Fifth Report of Session 2005–06, House of CommonsScience and Technology Committee, which said that the present system of drug classification is based on historical assumptions, not scientific assessment.^[50]
• Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse, David Nutt, Leslie A. King, William Saulsbury, Colin Blakemore,The Lancet, 24 March 2007, said the act is "not fit for purpose" and "the exclusion of alcohol and tobacco from the Misuse of Drugs Act is, from a scientific perspective, arbitrary."^[51][52]

The Transform Drug Policy Foundation offers rational criticism of the harms caused by the Government's current prohibitionist drug policy.^[53] TheDrug Equality Alliance (DEA) has launched legal actions against the UK Government's partial and unequal administration of the Act's discretionary powers, making particular reference to the arbitrary exclusion of alcohol and tobacco on the subjective grounds of historical and cultural precedents contrary to the Act's policy and objects.^[54]

Following the release of theCambridge Two – Ruth Wyner and John Brock – who had been convicted under Section 8 of the Act in 1999, a campaign calling for an overhaul of the Act was backed byMichael Winner,Julie Christie, andTom Stoppard in response to the original conviction.^[55]

Classification of cannabis has become especially controversial. In 2004,cannabis^[6] was reclassified from class B to class C,^[21] in accordance with advice from the ACMD. In 2009, it was returned to class B,^[22] against ACMD advice.

In February 2009 the UK government was accused by its most senior expert drugs adviser, ProfessorDavid Nutt, of making a political decision with regard to drug classification in rejecting the scientific advice to downgrade ecstasy from a class A drug. The ACMD report on ecstasy, based on a 12-month study of 4,000 academic papers, concluded that it is nowhere near as dangerous as other class A drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine, and should be downgraded to class B. The advice was not followed.^[56] Jacqui Smith, then Home Secretary, was also widely criticised by the scientific community for bullying Professor David Nutt into apologising for his comments that, in the course of a normal year, more people died from falling off horses than died from taking ecstasy.^[57] Professor Nutt was later sacked byAlan Johnson (Jacqui Smith's successor as Home Secretary), with Johnson saying: "It is important that the government's messages on drugs are clear and as an adviser you do nothing to undermine public understanding of them. I cannot have public confusion between scientific advice and policy and have therefore lost confidence in your ability to advise me as Chair of the ACMD."^[58][59]

In May 2011, a report named Taking Drugs Seriously was released by Demos. It discusses several issues with the current system, since its enactment in 1971. It states that the constant presence of new drugs will make it difficult for the government to keep up with the latest situation – more than 600 drugs are now classified under the act. Comparison levels of harm previously demonstrated by David Nutt show that alcohol and tobacco were among the most lethal, while some class A drugs, such as MDMA, LSD, and magic mushrooms, were among the least harmful.^[60]

A common misunderstanding amongst researchers is that most national laws (including the Misuse for Drugs Act) allows the use of small amounts of a controlled substance for non-clinical / non-in vivo research without licences. A typical use case might be having a few milligrams or microlitres of a controlled substance within larger chemical collections (often tens of thousands of chemicals) for in vitro screening. Researchers often believe that there is some form of "research exemption" for such small amounts. This incorrect view may be further re-enforced by R&D chemical suppliers often stating and asking scientists to confirm that anything bought is for research use only.

A further misconception is that the Misuse of Drugs Act simply lists a few hundred substances (e.g. MDMA, Fentanyl, Amphetamine, etc.) and compliance can be achieved via checking a CAS number, chemical name or similar identifier. However, the reality is that in most cases all ethers, esters, salts and stereo isomers are also controlled and it is impossible to simply list all of these. The act contains several "generic statements" or "chemical space" laws, which aim to control all chemicals similar to the "named" substance, these provide detailed descriptions similar toMarkushes, a good example of a few of these are found in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (amendment) order 2013.^[61]

Due to this complexity in legislation the identification of controlled chemicals in research is often carried out computationally, either by in house systems maintained a company's sample logistics department or by the use of commercial software solutions.^[62] Automated systems are often required as many research operations can often have chemical collections running into 10Ks of molecules at the 1–5 mg scale, which are likely to include controlled substances, especially within medicinal chemistry research, even if the core research of the company is not narcotic or psychotropic drugs.^[63] These may not have been controlled when created, but they have subsequently been declared controlled, or fall within chemical space close to known controlled substances.

There are no specific research exemptions in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. However, the associated Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/3998)^[64] does exempt products containing less than 1 mg of a controlled substance (1 μg for lysergide and derivatives) so long as a number of requirements are met, including that it cannot be recovered by readily applicable means, does not pose a risk to human health and is not meant for administration to a human or animal.

Although this does at first seem to allow research use, in most circumstances the sample, by definition, is "recoverable" – in order to prepare it for use the sample is "recovered" into an assay buffer or solvent such as DMSO or water. In 2017 the Home Office also confirmed that the 1 mg limit applies to the total of all preparations across the entire container in the case of sample microtitre plates.^[65] Given this, most companies and researchers choose not to rely on this exemption.

However, according to Home Office licensing, "University research departments generally do not require licences to possess and supply drugs in schedules 2, 3, 4 part I, 4 part II and schedule 5, but they do require licences to produce any of those drugs and to produce, possess and/or supply drugs in schedule 1".^[66]

• Cannabis in the United Kingdom
• Crime in the United Kingdom
• Dangerous Drugs (Supply to Addicts) Regulations 1968
• Drug policy of the United Kingdom
• Drug-related deaths in the United Kingdom
• Temporary class drug
• War on drugs

• Cannabis in the United Kingdom
• Crime in the United Kingdom
• Drug policy of the United Kingdom
• Drug-related deaths in the United Kingdom
• Drugs controlled by the UK Misuse of Drugs Act

 This article incorporates text published under the BritishOpen Government Licence v3.0: To maintain the accuracy of the article, some of the text is copied directly from the legislation.

• British Medical Association; Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (2010).British national formulary. London:British Medical Association andRoyal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.ISBN 978-0-85369-929-3.OCLC 780551036.

• The full text ofMisuse of Drugs Act 1971 at Wikisource
• Category:Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 atWikinews
• The text of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 – Office of Public Sector Information
• Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 as amended
• UK Misuse of Drugs Act, Steve Chapman website
• Controlled Drugs, Patient UK website
• Schedules and structuresArchived 7 January 2010 at theWayback Machine of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 – Isomer Design

• Misuse of Drugs Act 1971
• United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1971
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• 1971 in cannabis

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