A new ecstasy-like drug produced in China that has been linked to at least 125 deaths is feared to have spread to Britain, the National Crime Agency has warned in an alert to summer festival-goers. The United Nations (UN) has ordered a worldwide ban on N-Ethylnorpentylone in an attempt to close down its production in illegal psychoactive drugs “factories” in China which have flooded the market. It has been found in one in 20 samples of Ecstasy, or MDMA, tested by The Loop, a social enterprise set up by professor Fiona Measham, a former Government drugs adviser, which will this summer provide its free drug testing service at around a dozen festivals.

In what is effectively de facto drug decriminalisation, people caught in possession of personal amounts of controlled substances in a number of police areas are being directed towards treatment and education services through “diversion schemes”, rather than facing prosecution. The radical policies, often spearheaded by elected police and crime commissioners (PCCs), come amid a growing realisation that reoffending and drug-related harm can be reduced by adopting a public health approach and inviting people to address their own substance use. Just over 1,000 people in England and Wales were imprisoned in 2017 for possessing drugs, with around 22,000 others handed down non-custodial sentences.

COVID-19 and the lockdown have obviously hit many different groups in different ways, but few as severely as street-homeless people who use drugs. There are the obvious health impacts that make them more vulnerable to any disease, the impossibility of self-isolating when you don’t have a home, and the constant need to source the drugs you rely on—or face the nightmare of going into withdrawal in the midst of a pandemic. But in fact, the problems are even more complex. The increase in risky behaviors is an alarming aspect of the coronavirus-drug use nexus. In the case of fentanyl, Europe has thus far been largely spared the nightmarish situation of North America.

With more than half of people in the UK in favour of legalising the recreational use of cannabis, and countries around the world adopting more liberal stances to cannabis legislation, it seems inevitable that the fierce debate over cannabis regulation will resurface. The main question still stands – will cannabis be legalised in the UK? The legalisation and regulation of cannabis in the UK has multiple benefits that could help revive our lagging economy including job creation, tax revenue and savings in public services. These benefits have stimulated the conversation surrounding the legalisation of cannabis and caught the attention of government officials looking to cushion the inevitable realities of a recession as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The article reviews the status of khat, the most recent plant based psychoactive substance to reach a global market, and considers policy making processes in general and the framework of drug control in particular. The risk assessment and classification of psychoactive drugs is a contested arena where political, economic and moral agendas collide, leaving countries that have banned khat, with significant social costs. To best manage the risks arising from the increasing availability of khat it is therefore suggested to draft a regulatory framework with clear objectives and guiding principles.

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Almost a quarter of street drugs are not what users think they are, some being far more powerful and dangerous than expected, according to findings from the UK’s first community-based drug-checking service. The testing, carried out in Bristol and Durham, involved more than 170 substances of concern being submitted and analysed by a team of chemists in a pop-up lab, with follow-up healthcare consultations delivered to more than 200 users. Nearly one in four of the drugs sold (24%) were not what they purported to be, according to the results, published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

We’ve already witnessed the havoc of coronavirus as panic-buying compromises supply and distribution of food and some medicines. The illicit drug market is not immune to coronavirus either. We are a net importer of drugs like cocaine and heroin, so when borders are shut moving drugs becomes more difficult. People don’t behave rationally, whether it’s about the supply of toilet roll or cocaine. When one drug is in short supply, another takes its place. If, for example, heroin is substituted with fentanyl – fifty times more potent – the potential for overdose is clear. If ever there was a time to introduce drug consumption rooms, it is now. (See also: Impact of Covid-19 on drugs trade likely to hit recreational cocaine users most | How coronavirus is changing the market for illegal drugs)

Los intentos para legalizar la siembra y la venta de cannabis volvieron a generar controversia en Bermudas, después de que la Cámara baja de la Asamblea aprobara la medida y esta quede ahora a expensas del consentimiento real de la gobernadora británica. Un proyecto de ley similar ya fue aprobado hace un año por la Cámara baja de este territorio británico de ultramar y rechazado por el Senado, que ahora, sin embargo, no puede bloquearlo por segunda vez. La última palabra es de la gobernadora británica de Bermudas, Rena Lalgie, quien ha enfatizado que el cannabis como uso recreativo no está permitido bajo las obligaciones internacionales del Reino Unido. El proyecto de ley, presentado por el ministro de Interior de Bermudas, Walter Roban, fue aprobado con 18 votos a favor y seis en contra.

The BMJ has uncovered links between companies, campaign groups and individuals lobbying for wider patient access to cannabis for medical use and a parallel campaign to create a lucrative recreational market for the drug in the UK. The article focuses on the links between commercial organisations that are seeking new markets for recreational cannabis and patient groups and researchers. Some suggest that the debate is being fuelled by a growing breed of new companies, ranging from large scale cannabis growers and distributors in Canada to UK and international investment groups, which are manoeuvring to take advantage of a widely anticipated shift in the UK’s cannabis regulatory landscape.

The delayed blanket ban on legal highs in England and Wales is to come into force on 26 May, the Home Office has confirmed. The introduction of the Psychoactive Substances Act was originally due to come into force on 6 April, but was delayed following claims its definition of “psychoactivity” was not practically enforceable by the police and prosecutors. The legislation is designed to outlaw the trade in legal highs, synthetic chemicals that imitate the effects of traditional illicit drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy, but does not make their possession outside a prison a criminal offence. The introduction of similar legislation in Ireland triggered a wave of closures of shops and online outlets, although few prosecutions have followed due to difficulties proving in Irish law whether a substance is psychoactive.

Bermuda’s governor Rena Lalgie announced that the United Kingdom has blocked the Bermuda government’s controversial bid to legalize the use and production of cannabis in the British Overseas Territory. “I previously announced that I had reserved the Cannabis Licensing Bill 2022 for the signification of her majesty’s pleasure under Section 35 (2) of the Bermuda Constitution. I have now received an instruction, issued to me on Her Majesty’s behalf, not to assent to the bill as drafted." The Bill, as currently drafted, is not consistent with obligations held by the UK and Bermuda under the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. The Cannabis Licensing Act 2022 was intended to create a regulated framework for the growth and sale of the drug. (See also: Crisis looms as Britain blocks cannabis legalisation | The long road to legalisation)

An estimated 1.3 million people in the UK regularly use CBD for a variety of health and wellness reasons – but ingestible CBD products occupy a hazy legal area, characterised by unclear enforcement, restrictive drug laws and over-exuberant marketing claims. This has led to a booming, but not-quite-fully-legal, consumer market. Having until now stood idly by as the CBD craze swept the country, the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) has unveiled new plans to better regulate the cannabidiol industry and issue new safety advice for consumers. Under the FSA's new rules, CBD companies have until the end of March, 2021 to submit a product safety dossier to the regulators, or else be pulled from the shelves.

A legal expert at an international immigration firm has warned British tourists and employees that if they smoke marijuana in the US, even in states where it has been legalised, they risk being barred from the country for life. UK visitors can still be arrested and deported from the US even if they consume cannabis in states such as California and Colorado, where the drug is legal, said Charlotte Slocombe, a senior partner at Fragomen in London. Slocombe says her firm and others that deal with US immigration laws have seen a rise in cases where British holidaymakers and green card holders, working legally in the US, are being expelled or denied entry because of cannabis consumption in states where it is legal.

El narco se multiplica para seguir abasteciendo al mercado. El negocio del tráfico de drogas es más que nunca un monstruo de mil cabezas. El último informe anual del Observatorio Europeo sobre Drogas, presentado este jueves en Bruselas, así lo percibe, especialmente cuando se refiere a la cocaína. Las incautaciones de esta sustancia, la segunda más consumida tras el cannabis tanto en España como en Europa, están en su nivel más alto, pero su grado de pureza en la venta al por menor es el mayor en una década debido a que ha aumentado el volumen de producción. El diagnóstico es que la tecnología está cambiando el modus operandi en la distribución de cocaína.

Premier David Burt refused to confirm whether he had held any discussions with the Governor on cannabis regulations approved by the House of Assembly last week. The Premier however maintained that the legislation, if approved by the Senate, could receive Royal Assent despite concerns raised in the House of Assembly. “If our regulations were modelled after what is in place in Canada – another realm of the commonwealth where the Queen serves as head of state – and those are acceptable there, I cannot possibly imagine why they would not be acceptable here.” He said: “We live in a time, a point and place where we can be free to make our own laws and Bermuda has a long tradition of internal self governance and that tradition, I expect in this case, will be upheld and respected.”

Premier David Burt has expressed doubt over whether a new law to license cannabis production in Bermuda will get the royal assent from Governor Rena Lalgie, and says the island’s relationship with the United Kingdom would suffer serious damage. Burt told the House of Assembly there were indications that Lalgie would be unable to give assent to legislation that contravened Britain’s international obligations. But he added: “This legislation will pass . . . . If Her Majesty’s representative in Bermuda does not give assent to something that has been passed lawfully and legally under this local government, this will destroy the relationship that we have with the United Kingdom. (See also: Bermuda plans adult-use, medical cannabis industry)

Bermuda’s Government had “no intention” of tailoring its laws licensing cannabis production to fit with the UK’s conventions allowing the drug for medicinal use only. David Burt, the Premier, reiterated that legislation for legal cannabis in Bermuda is set to go before the legislature in the current session of Parliament. The statement came after the Premier’s return from the Joint Ministerial Council in London between the UK Government and elected heads of the Overseas Territories' A question mark hung over the cannabis legislation, passed by the House of Assembly but turned back by the Senate in the last parliamentary session, as to whether it would receive Royal Assent. (See also: A way out of trouble on cannabis reform)

European-style drug rooms where users can take illicit substances have been backed by a Teesside panel. Councillors have spent more than a year examining Middlesbrough’s opioid crisis - and what can be done to bring down the town’s high number of drug deaths and reduce dependency. Now a health scrutiny panel has urged the Government to reconsider its policy on “drug consumption rooms” among a raft of recommendations. Middlesbrough has been dogged by drug-related deaths - and has one of the highest mortality rates in the country. According to the most recent statistics, drug related deaths in Middlesbrough tally 16.3 per 100,000 people - compared to a rate 4.7 per 100,000 for the rest of England.

One in five of those found guilty of cannabis possession in England and Wales last year was black, official figures show, prompting accusations of racial injustice at the heart of the UK’s drug laws. Campaigners said the rate was grossly disproportionate when only an estimated 3 per cent of the population is black. They also warned of a link between the convictions and the police stop and search policy, a central concern during the Black Lives Matter protests. The latest figures, obtained from the Ministry of Justice, show one in five, 21 per cent, of those convicted in 2018-19 was black. But the true figure could be even higher, because in 23 per cent of cases data on ethnicity was not recorded.

There is a real concern among many scientists that the government's classification of ecstasy as Class A overstates the danger it poses to society and inhibits important research that could help people suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Another area where MDMA could be useful is in the treatment of depression and anxiety. Scientists believe it could be successful at targeting the part of the brain that causes rumination and repetitive thinking about negative experiences.