A non-comprehensive overview of Scottish and UK Government Policy and Reports. Please feel free to contact us with any suggested publications.
Misuse Use of Drugs Act 1971 – main UK Act which controls drug use, sale and supply.
Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 – complex Act which attempts to regulate/prohibit all psychoactive compounds for sale and supply.
The Scottish Government
Public Health Information for Scotland – Drugs
Crime and Justice – statistic on prevalence and drug seizures
Partnership for Alcohol and Drugs (PADS) – Main policy making body of the Scottish Government
Scottish National Framework Research Framework for Problem Drug use (2015) – The Scottish Government have implemented a new ‘policy landscape’ which is outlined in this paper.
New Psychoactive Substances Expert Review Group – Review of the current Legal Framework available to Govern the Sale and Supply of NPS. This paper is of particular interest to the issue of drug policy devolution as it highlights the issue of reserved versus devolved powers.
The Scottish Governments Drug Policy ‘The Road to Recovery’ 2008 – In 2008 the Scottish Government set out their drug policy covering the areas which it is within their legislative competence to deal with. This document therefore deals with public health, ideals such as harm reduction and recovery, and criminal justice enforcement.
Reducing the damaging impact of drugs and alcohol
The UK Government
UK Government Drug Policy ‘Reducing drugs misuse and dependence’.
Home Office (2014) ‘Drugs: international comparators’ – This report recently caused controversy through its findings that tough laws on drugs does not result in a reduction of drug use or supply compared to countries which have so called softer approaches
Home Affairs Committee – Ninth Report (2012) ‘Drugs: Breaking the Cycle’. – Report packed full of informative information and some radical recommendations.
The Science and Technology Select Committee (2006) ‘Drug Classification: Making a Hash of it’. – This report highlighted, among other things, the problem surrounding drug classification and the fact that often it is not based in scientific knowledge. Great analyses of the problem and many people gave evidence
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