The Drug Laws in the UK

Throughout the years drug possession and sales in the UK has become one of the major problems in the area. Because the drug problem has had such a profound affect and often leads to more crime, many laws have been passed to curb what could have become a dangerous situation in the United Kingdom.

In order to deal with the problem of drugs, a piece of legislation called the “Misuse of Drugs Act of 1971” which helped to restrict and control drugs such as heroin, cannabis, morphine, LSD and amphetamines. Over the more recent years, new legislation has been added to help the original laws such as the “Intoxicating Substances Act of 1985” and the “Drugs Trafficking Offenses Act of 1986.”

The Drug law in the United Kingdom changed the face of criminal law by making changes to how these people were arrested, whether or not they were detained, how police were allowed to question them and how they were prosecuted for this type of crime.

The main change came with the classification of what constituted an illegal drug. The “Misuse of Drugs Act” shows how dangerous these particular drugs are and classified them into groups (A, B, and C). These drugs are updated when new drugs are detected. With the new classification of these drugs, a new sentencing structure was also adopted.

The new structure broke the drugs down into three categories:

·         Class A: These drugs include cocaine, heroin, methadone, opium, PCP, and many more. These are considered the worse of illegal drugs and possession of them could bring the person a stiffer penalty than someone who is caught in possession with the other classifications of drugs.

·         Class B: These include amphetamines and barbiturates and a few other drugs that are usually only prescribed by a physician. While possession of these are not usually illegal as long as you have a prescription, it is illegal to sell them to someone who does not possess that prescription, or if you are caught in possession of them without a prescription.

·         Class C: These are usually legal and can be possessed as long as they are in form of medication.