Legal high dealers to get long prison sentences?

Thursday 07 August 2014

Jersey’s Health department says its closely monitoring the UK’s plans to crackdown on legal highs with tougher prison sentences and blanket bans, and will be quick to take similar action if it proves a success.

The UK government is clamping down on dealers of NPS drugs who could soon be given the same punishments as heroin dealers and its Chief Medical Officer is pushing for a complete ban on the synthetic drugs - forcing manufacturers to prove that their products are safe before they go on sale.

The ban would make it harder for unscrupulous manufacturers to tweak the ingredients of chemical highs and evade bans, as they have in the past.

A Jersey Health and Social Services spokesman said: “The department constantly monitors developments in this fast-changing and complex area, with a particular focus on what is happening in the UK. This work is carried out by the Misuse of Drugs Advisory Council. Where swift action is deemed beneficial, this will be taken.”

The department took action on "legal highs" in December last year when a change was made to the Misuse of Drugs (Jersey) Law 19787 making one drug that had caused a problem in Jersey - ethylphenidate - illegal, although the psychostimulant is still not banned in the UK.

The Health department is currently awaiting the outcome of the review of drugs legislation by the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs banning the whole “family” of synthetic related drugs. Targeting those supplying synthetic drugs has become a priority for all law enforcement agencies in the Island this year, while the drugs themselves continue to have lethal consequences.

NPS drugs, or former “legal highs”, are synthetic drugs designed to mimic the effects of illegal drugs like ecstasy, amphetamines or cannabis. Although they used to be legal, updates to the Misuse of Drugs Law means that most of them are formally classed as Class B drugs, which means that possession of them is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison, and supplying them carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.