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Mostly_Harmless
wyrd bið ful aræd



Registered: 05/12/09
Posts: 5,043
Loc: Perfidious Albion
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Academics sign open letter urging UK government to reconsider their Psychoactive Substances Bill 2
#21969069 - 07/20/15 03:26 AM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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http://2015.breakingconvention.co.uk/open-letter/
Quote:
OPEN LETTER
Dear Prime Minister,
We the undersigned request that HM Government immediately reconsiders the proposed Psychoactive Substances Bill (2015).
Parliament is responsible for protecting citizens against the harms of drugs. However, the enactment of the Psychoactive Substances Bill would be deleterious to the freedoms, well-being and ultimate safety of UK citizens. The UN Drug Conventions were established under the assumption that prohibition would reduce drug use and therefore minimise drug-related harms. Instead, global drug use has increased significantly in the decades since these policies were incorporated into law. Many countries have witnessed the unintended and damaging consequences related to the dangers of an unregulated criminal market and the criminalisation of a large number of otherwise law-abiding citizens.
If enacted, the Psychoactive Substances Bill would be unlikely to reduce the market for new psychoactive substances (NPS), which are mostly sold “not for human consumption”. The law will place the market in the hands of unregulated criminal organisations; increasing the likelihood of violence between competitors over market control as well as driving market focus on products that are higher in price and potency. Unregulated illegal markets have no incentive to comply with quality assurance protocols and accurate labelling of products, resulting in increased health risks for users and a greater strain on the already overburdened National Health Service.
Medical science will suffer from the proposed legislation, just as it continues to suffer from the over rigid regulation of other controlled psychoactive substances. Scheduling psychoactive agents in a blanket ban will impede the development of novel psychiatric medicines and prevent vulnerable members of society from potentially benefiting from new treatments.
Furthermore, any legislation that prohibits the sale of all psychoactive compounds without proper consideration of their relative harms and benefits presents an unwarranted threat to the long-standing freedoms of UK citizens. It is not possible to legislate against all psychoactive agents without criminalising the sale of dozens of harmless, everyday products that produce changes in mood and behaviour, from fresh flowers and herbs to spices and incense.
If the Government is genuinely serious about reducing drug-related harms, it should ensure that policy-makers focus their attention on public health campaigns, wide-ranging educational initiatives, effective drug treatment strategies, and the adequate funding of relevant medical and scientific research.
Despite these concerns we welcome the fact that the Psychoactive Substances Bill does not target NPS possession for personal use and would strongly encourage the extension of this approach to the regulation of other psychoactive drugs. In general, however, we believe the bill to be very poorly drafted, unethical in principle, unenforceable in practice, and likely to constitute a real danger to the health and well-being of our nation’s citizens.
Yours sincerely,
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searching



Registered: 06/08/11
Posts: 4,128
Last seen: 5 months, 5 days
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Re: Academics sign open letter urging UK government to reconsider their Psychoactive Substances Bill [Re: Mostly_Harmless]
#21972007 - 07/20/15 06:03 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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This is a nicely written letter, but I doubt they'll do anything about it. The only messages they act on are ones from lobbyists with deep pockets unfortunately. Democracy... Yeah right.
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jesuisravi
The Old Noob



Registered: 06/24/15
Posts: 260
Loc: Midwest USA
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Re: Academics sign open letter urging UK government to reconsider their Psychoactive Substances Bill [Re: Mostly_Harmless]
#21974786 - 07/21/15 09:00 AM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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It is a kneejerk bill, and, as everybody knows, reason does not cut any mustard when it comes to modulating reflexive response.I mean, when you are looking at a coiled rope and you are convinced it's a rattle snake about to strike you do not even hear the little guy in the corner asking you to put down your shotgun.
-------------------- Most of my beliefs I acquired from my father and from John Wayne, and anything that wasn't ultra tough and ultra cool was to me ultra embarrassing. In fact, I lived in a state of near continuous embarrassment, never measuring up to the ridiculous standards I had accepted without question, applied to a framework of expectations neither I nor anyone else could meet.--J C Amberchele almost nothing important that ever happens to you happens because you engineer it. Destiny has no beeper; destiny always leans trenchcoated out of an alley with some sort of 'psst' that you usually can't even hear because you're in such a rush to or from something important you've tried to engineer. ” ― David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest
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misterjingo
Divided by zero



Registered: 09/26/12
Posts: 669
Loc: Shangri-La
Last seen: 2 years, 4 months
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Re: Academics sign open letter urging UK government to reconsider their Psychoactive Substances Bill [Re: jesuisravi]
#21975403 - 07/21/15 12:15 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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It's my hope that one good thing could come from the tories money-hunger, the initiation of cannabis legalisation (or at the least, decriminalization) after viewing the positive legislation of it in US states. I can always dream...
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