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03 December 2009 / Roger Birch
Issue: 7396 / Categories: Features , Regulatory
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A class apart

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Part one: Roger Birch examines the increasing determination for certain recreational drugs to be advertised as legal

The recreational drug market is on a continual quest for drugs that can be advertised as “legal” and consequently in recent years the term “legal highs” has been adopted. However, the use of the term “legal highs” cannot be applied to all of the so-called products. This new and developing market has attempted to provide substances which fall outside the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (MDA 1971), Sch 2 as amended. The Schedule lists a number of drugs which have been divided into the categories of class A, B and C depending upon the perceived seriousness of a particular drug.

MDA 1971 is the legal front line in the war on what are known as illegal drugs. Hence the development of the so called “legal highs” which is an attempt to make money out of substances not listed in MDA 1971, Sch 2.

The public perception of drugs

There is a public perception in the UK that

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