The Psychoactive Substances Bill – a fundamental shift in drugs legislation and state control.

Part 1: Commentary

Every now and then, a piece of legislation emerges which fundamentally changes the way that the State seeks to regulate how people choose to get intoxicated. The Misuse of Drugs Act was one such piece of legislation. If it becomes law, the Psychoactive Substances Bill will represent another such seismic shift.

It is essential to recognise that, whilst the Bill emerges against a backdrop of concern about Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS), its breadth and reach far exceeds newly emergent drugs. It represents a step change in how substances are and will be regulated. 

Up until now, substances were lawful to produce and supply provided that they were not currently regulated either by the MDA or the Medicines Act. The Psychoactive Substances Bill reverses this position and says that all psychoactive substances will be illegal to produce or supply unless specifically exempted. 

This fundamentally changes the way that the State manages the risk of substances. Until now the onus has been on the State (via the ACMD) to demonstrate that any specific substance was so dangerous that it needed to be “controlled” under the MDA. Now any substance, old or new, will be automatically prohibited for production, importation or supply unless specifically exempted. It’s all too dangerous for us to access unless the state determines otherwise.

The Act to a large extent nullifies the role of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) as any new emergent Psychoactive Compounds are automatically covered by this Act. Their only role in relation to new drugs would be (presumably) to determine if they should also be controlled under the MDA, and if so in which Class. 

The Act contains provision to exempt specific psychoactive substances and the Secretary of State has the power to add to this list via Statutory Instrument. There is no formal or independent mechanism for such reviews to take place beyond a loose requirement that the “Secretary of State must consult such persons  as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.”

The list of exemptions includes:

• ·         Controlled Drugs and Medicines,
• ·         Alcohol,
• ·         Tobacco and Nicotine,
• ·         Caffeine,
• ·         Food.

Aside from the obvious inherent contradiction in restricting some very low-risk compounds (e.g. Nitrous Oxide) while not acting on others (e.g. alcohol, tobacco) the legislation in its current form makes prohibits supply of a number of lawful substances, such as Areca Nut (betel, paan).

This is however not the key issue. It will be relatively easy for such substances to be exempted prior to the Act coming in to force. It’s the idea that from this point on the relative risk or safety of a substance is irrelevant. If it’s psychoactive and not exempt, it is forbidden.

Because the legislation is coming at a time of ill-informed moral panic about NPS, the odds are that the legislation will be passed without significant changes to it. It’s a bad time for the sector to lose voices such as Drugscope, however muted they had become over time. The voices that have got the Government’s ear are more likely to be those who will endorse such a blanket ban.

But, ideological objections aside, will this legislation work? That in part depends on how one measures success. If the experience of the Irish Republic is anything to go by, then it will have a significant impact on so-called Head-Shops. The vast majority of Irish Head-shops closed down when similar legislation was introduced. The trade and use of NPS has not, however ceased. It’s still goes on, but more underground, akin to more traditional drug markets.

The other potential development will be the relocation of key suppliers outside of the UK. The legislation creates offences around importation, and includes requirements that can be imposed on internet service companies. However it seems likely that suppliers with websites and storage outside of the UK, and especially outside of the EU will be able to supply NPS with a low level of risk to purchasers in the UK.

In the longer term, as successors to the Silk Road emerge and stabilise, on-line sale of both old and new psychoactive substances will continue and grow via virtual markets. Ultimately, a future Government will have to recognise and accept that prohibitive responses are and will become increasingly obsolete. Sadly this Government is intellectually too myopic and ideologically opposed to any such insight and instead will leave us a terrible legacy: a piece of legislation that views all possible psychoactive substances as equally dangerous and a single response to them – ban them all.

Part 2: The legislation.

The main provisions of the proposed legislation restrict production, supply and importation of Psychoactive Substances.

 A Psychoactive Substance is defined as “is capable of producing a psychoactive effect in a person who consumes it, and is not an exempted substance.” A psychoactive effect is “a substance produces a psychoactive effect in a person if, by stimulating or depressing the person’s central  nervous system, it affects the person’s mental functioning or emotional state.”

In its current form the Bill creates key offences of production, supply, importation and exportation. It doesn’t make possession for personal use an offence BUT the Bill creates the power for the Police to stop and search for suspected offences under the Act, to seize substances and to destroy them.

There is also provision for the searching of vehicles, buildings etc.
The offences are:

Producing a psychoactive substance

(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person intentionally produces a psychoactive substance,
(b) the person knows or suspects that the substance is a psychoactive substance, and
(c) the person— (i) intends to consume the psychoactive substance for its psychoactive effects, or (ii) knows, or is reckless as to whether, the psychoactive substance is likely to be consumed by some other person for its psychoactive effects.

Production here means “producing it by manufacture, cultivation or any other method.”

Supply, a psychoactive substance

(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person intentionally supplies a substance to another person,
(b) the substance is a psychoactive substance,
(c) the person knows or suspects, or ought to know or suspect, that the substance is a psychoactive substance, and (d) the person knows, or is reckless as to whether, the psychoactive substance is likely to be consumed by the person to whom it is supplied, or by some other person, for its psychoactive effect.

Additional clauses cover Possession with Intent to Supply and Offer to Supply.

Importing or exporting a psychoactive substance

(1) A person commits an offence if—(a) the person intentionally imports a substance,
(b) the substance is a psychoactive substance,
(c) the person knows or suspects, or ought to know or suspect, that the substance is a psychoactive substance, and (d) the person—(i) intends to consume the psychoactive substance for its psychoactive effects, or (ii) knows, or is reckless as to whether, the psychoactive substance is likely to be consumed by some other person for its psychoactive effects.

(2) A person commits an offence if—

(a) the person intentionally exports a substance,
(b) the substance is a psychoactive substance,
(c) the person knows or suspects, or ought to know or suspect, that the substance is a psychoactive substance, and (d) the person— (i) intends to consume the psychoactive substance for its psychoactive effects, or (ii) knows, or is reckless as to whether, the psychoactive substance is likely to be consumed by some other person for its psychoactive effects.

Commentary: 

One of the key challenges in drafting this legislation will have been to ensure that labelling products as “plant food” or “not for Human Consumption.”

The key wording in the proposed legislation to address this is “knows, or is reckless as to whether, the psychoactive substance is likely to be consumed”

The expectation is that a court could determine that a person was acting in a reckless way by the production or supply of compounds which a reasonable person could assume were for the purposes of intoxication, irrespective of how they were packaged.

Enforcement Powers:

In addition to the criminal sanctions of fines, imprisonment or action under the Proceeds of Crime Act, the Bill introduces new powers to prohibit activity or close premises.

Prohibition Notices could be served against individuals who are believed to be carrying out prohibited activities such as production or supply of prohibited activities, requiring them to stop any such activity.

Premises notices can be issued to people who own, manage or lease premises where there is a belief that prohibited activities in relation to Psychoactive Substances are taking place, requiring that any such activity ceases.

In situations where such notices have been breached or in other circumstances, Prohibition or Premises Orders can be issues by a court. The standard of proof for these is on balance of probability, though they could be issued as part of a sentence for an offence under the Act.

Commentary:

 If the experience of Eire is anything to go by, the Prohibition and Premises orders will be a key tool to act against shops and other retail outlets. As there is no requirement to prove to criminal standards that the any criminal breach has taken place, it will be relatively easy to enforce and effectively stop sale via shops. 

The full text of the bill can be viewed and downloaded here:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/2015-2016/0002/16002.pdf

6-APB Briefing

Although you won’t know it from visiting Frank, Drug Discussion forums and on-line drug retailers have been a-buzz since the Summer, excitedly discussing and promoting the latest “legal high” – 6-APB. As with Mephedrone before it, the lack of reliable and factual information, especially analysis, is once again creating a hugely unsafe environment. This briefing attempts to summarise the current confused situation.
Names:
6-APB is short for 1-benzofuran-6-ylpropan-2-amine or 6-(2-aminopropyl)benzofuran. Unfortunately, due to the drug containing the benzofuran molecular ring, some on-line retailers decided to give it the name benzo-fury. This is confusing as 6-APB is not an benzodiazepine, and shares none of the effects of a benzodiazepine. So the slang name is deeply unhelpful. The more sensible of the drugs discussions forums have tried have some influence here by refusing to use the term ‘benzo fury,’ but despite this it is listed for sale on many sites by this name. There is no relationship between “benzo-fury” and the (currently) unrestricted benzodiazepine phenazepam which is being flogged on some sites. The latter is really a benzo and 6-APB isn't!

There is a molecularly very similar product 6-APDB or 6-(2-Aminopropyl)-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran. This product has been offered for sale by vendors aswell as or instead of 6-APB. In the absence of laboratory analysis it is not possible to say which of these products has been actually sold – or in truth it is either of these products.

Early suggestions are that retailers initially may have believed that they were selling 6-APDB but early forum discussion raised concerns about the legality of 6-APDB and the suggestion that many people experience severe nausea when coming up on 6-APDB. This may have led to the conclusion that marketing 6-APB was an easier proposition.

Routes and Effects:
The very few credible trip reports for 6-APB suggest that the drug is a relatively powerful psychedelic drug causing significant visual distortion. It has been described as more MDA-like than MDMA – so less energetic and more trippy. Users also report MDMA-type effects such as gurning and urine-retention.

It has been snorted and swallowed; some reports suggest that swallowing is more effective. Dose ranges have been at around the 100mg mark.

The available evidence suggests the drug causes elevation of serotonin levels (probably by blocking reuptake) with low levels of impact on nor-adrenaline and dopamine levels.

The early reports indicated effects from 4-6 hours with little urge to redose during or afterwards.

The early users who wrote trip reports were very positive about their experience.

Availability and Supply:
These early reports, dating back to July triggered a significant interest in 6-APB and attention turned to a number of on-line vendors who claimed that they would have the drug in stock shortly, some of whom were taking advanced orders. As has become more common with some of the on-line vendors, some distributed samples, especially to those people who were writing trip-reports or would otherwise promote the drug.

Since then a number of companies have offered to supply a range of products, under the name 6-APB. A quick trawl suggests between 10 and 20 online vendors all offering products of different appearance. It is not clear how many, if any of these contain 6-APB.

User reports of many of the products being sold range from non-active products, through those which have a low level of potency, up to reports of people being sold very long-lasting stimulants with unpleasant side effects. There is little consistency either in terms of the products sold or reported effects.

Appearance of 6-APB:
Early supplies of drugs reported to be 6-APB and used in early trip reports discussed a tan-coloured powder. However, later on this was replaced by an off-white, creamy coloured powder. None of the early reports described a crystalline white powder.

After the initial availability of powder, the products that came to market were either “pellet” form or capsule form. And at this point the supply side and the discussion side both seemed to go in to what can only be described as melt-down.

Discussions, partly it seems fed by vendors, talked about “official” 6-APB supply chain and so a distinction started to emerge between “official -6-APB” and other stuff. It should be stressed at this point that the idea of “official” or “authorized retailers” in the context of any so-called legal high is bogus. There is no quality control or monitoring body. It’s all equally unofficial.

The pellet forms of 6-APB sold in a professionally produced foil bag were orange in colour; some had a chemical, TCP-esque smell. The alleged dose range was 100mg. Pelletised drugs bring a couple of new challenges – they make it harder to take an initial “allergy test” sample to check for bad reactions. And they increase the chances that people will take several pills in a sitting, and thus increase dosing in 100mg increments, increasing the risks of overdose.

Since then a large range of capsules have been marketed and sold as 6-APB. These have included red capsules, blue capsules, translucent capsules, orange ones and so on. The early availability of red and blue capsules and fierce arguments about which were better led to some commentators referencing the Matrix. Either way, the consensus was that the capsules did not contain 6-APB and the actual contents were unknown. There is at least one trip-report of a person who, taking white capsules containing a white powder sold as 6-APB had very negative, long acting effects off it more akin to a strong stimulant than 6-APB.

The bottom line at present has to be the vast majority of compounds being sold as 6-APB do not contain this drug. There is no evidence that any of the capsules being sold contain this drug. The odds are that if you go to an on-line vendor and attempt to buy this drug you will not receive 6-APB.

What is being sold as 6-APB:
Quite simply, we don’t know. A report in August 2010 published in Drug Testing and Analysis titled “Analyses of second-generation ‘legal highs’ in the UK: Initial findings“ analysed a range of products being sold by online retailers and found that the majority contained now-banned compounds such as mephedrone or relatively low-acting stimulants such as caffeine. Unfortunately this research was conducted before the upsurge in sales of 6-APB so these were not analysed.

So we cannot be certain what is in any product being sold as 6-APB including those tested early on and described as more MDMA-esque.

Reducing Harm:
It is difficult to offer harm reduction information when we know so little about what is being sold, or the risks attached to that substance. So harm reduction information needs to be loosely couched to ensure it is relevant not just to the substance allegedly being sold, but also likely substances being sold in its place.
• If using powders swallow rather than snorting;
• If using a new substance take a small amount first. Take a very small amount (e.g. no more than 10mg) as an “allergy test” to check for unexpected adverse reactions; wait at least an hour. If there are no adverse effects use a larger dose if you are still convinced you want to.
• You should use on-line forums to assess the range of doses being sampled and start at the low end of this range. And then half this. So for example if people are using a substance at the 100-150mg range start at 50mg. Wait at least an hour. Then and only then increase dose cautiously and not exceeding the upper dose range.
•Don't use if you are prone to poor mental health, especially depression or psychosis.
• Don’t use on top of other substances including alcohol. Don’t mix with other stimulants or anti-depressants
• Seek medical help if you experience serious unpleasant symptoms.

Legal Status:At present 6-APB is not believed to be covered by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Sale for human consumption would probably put it within the terms of the Medicines Act hence being sold once again labelled as "plant food" or "for technical use." As with MMCAT before this is not a plant food. Some commentators suggest that the decision to sell it in pelletised form (and to call it pellets, not pills) is to further reinforce the illusion that it is a plant food, and not for human consumption.

The situation regarding 6-APDB is more confusing with a number of sources suggesting it may fall under the Misuse of Drugs Act, but in lieu of a ruling from a court or the Home Office this is mere speculation.

It is likely that some of the compounds sold as 6-APB are, in fact, Controlled Drugs, and possession of them will be illegal.

To summarise:
• Compounds sold as 6-APB could contain a range of different chemicals. The one thing you can be reasonably certain of is that it won’t contain 6-APB;
• We do not categorically know that any 6-APB has been sold in the UK at all; early samples could have been any of a range of compounds;
• The products sold as 6-APB may contain hazardous substances which may also be controlled drugs;
• It is possible to be prosecuted for possession of a Controlled Drug even if you bought it believing it to be legal;
• A flashy website does not ensure they sell what they claim to sell; what they claim to sell may not be safe.

Sources for this article include but are not limited to:
Drugs Forum, Bluelight, Partyvibe, Legal Highs Forum
Liverpool John Moore University
Wikipedia
Frank

Training: If you need a workshop or training on new, legal or herbal highs get in touch to discuss our course "Cats Bees and Dragonflies." Can be delivered anywhere in the UK.
To download this blog as a PDF for reproduction and distribution click here www.ixion.demon.co.uk/6apb.pdf

NRG -1: analysis indicates batches contain MDPV

Thanks to the previous Governments rush to prohibit MMCAT and MDPV manufacturers were left holding stockpiles of their now-illegal drugs. What to do? Emerging test results suggest that they are repackagaging and relabelling it as NRG-1 and passing it off as the still-legal drug Naphyrone.

Reports that batches of "NRG-1" in Scotland had been analysed an found to contain MDPV were reported at the start of June by ACPOS.

Further and more detailed work was undertaken by Drugs-Forum who confirmed and expanded on Police reports.

Drugs Forum have once again been outstanding. There is a detailed report and recommendations on the website, a stark difference to FRANK's somewhat anodyne observation "it is likely that substances sold as naphyrone or “NRG-1” actually contain one or more Class B cathinone derivatives, the most well known one of which is mephedrone.

It is not clear who in the supply chain knows that drugs being passed off as legal Naphyrone are in fact illegal MDPV. The suspicion is that dealers left holding stock of MDPV are passing it down to smaller retailers as NRG-1, who then sell it under the misaprehension that it is lawful NRG-1. ALternatively it could be that the smaller internet retailers are aware that they are selling end users MDPV under the guise of NRG-1, to get rid of old stock.

At this stage it is not clear how much "real" Naphyrone is on the market; user reports as to the appearance and effect of substances sold as NRG-1 vary widely and little consistency has emerged. With the summer festival season on us, this is a dangerous situation.

Two key pieces of advice must get out to end users:

1: any substance containing MDPV or MMCAT can result in action being taken for possession of a Class B drug; people in possession of large quantities could be charged with Supply.

Ignorance or confusion as to the nature of the substance will not be a defence and so anyone in possession of a compound that they bought in the belief that it was legal NRG-1 and in practice turns out to be MDPV could be prosecuted.

2: The dose ranges for NRG-1 are far smaller than those for MDPV. The size of a dose of MDPV that would provide a reasonable effect would be far too strong if the batch contained Naphyrone. A normal MDPV dose would be probably ten times the range suitable for naphyrone.

Conversely, the low doses advised for taking NRG-1 would not provide an effect if it were actually Naphyrone.

So anyone offered or buying white powder should exercise extreme care regardless of the label on the packet. The best advice is to stay away from any compounds unless you are certain of the composition and strength, and how to take it with as much safety as possible.

Remember: a 'normal' size dose of powders such as ketamine, speed, coke, mmcat or mdpv could be fatal if the powder in question contains naphyrone.

If you are uncertain of the constituents of a powder, or think you have bought NRG-1 take a tiny dose first - a dose about the size of a grain of rice AT MOST. It would be safer to use a professionaly-calibrated set of scales but this will not be feasible for most people. The cheap scales you bought of E-bay are not accurate for this sort of thing and won't be callibrated properly so don't leave you in a safe position.

Keep up to date with news on NRG-1 at Drugs Forum.