Effective Drug Control: Toward A New Legal Framework

Report from Britain– After the War on Drugs: Options for Control
Transform, a drug policy think tank in the United Kingdom, released a report in
October 2004 setting forth models for a new drug control regime. 472 The report, which
was released with the support of former police officers and Members of Parliament, 473
calls for the control and regulation of drugs and lays out a suggested legal framework
based on an examination of the existing models in Britain under which drugs are
produced, existing ways in which drugs are supplied and new drug supply options.
The Transform report breaks down the existing options for drug production into:
1) pharmaceutical drugs; 2) non-pharmaceutical drugs; and 3) unlicensed production.
One example of a pharmaceutical drug is diamorphine, or heroin, which is still a
pharmaceutical drug in the United Kingdom, the production of which is licensed and
regulated. 474 More than half of the global opium poppy production is for the legal
medical market.
Non-pharmaceutical drugs include alcohol, tobacco and caffeine. In Britain
alcohol and tobacco are produced and imported under domestic and international
licensing agreements and policed and taxed by Customs and Excise. Unlike tobacco,
alcohol is a food/beverage besides being a drug and is therefore subject to various
standards legislation. While home production of alcohol is not licensed, tobacco could be
licensed and taxed for personal production but rarely is, thus making it de facto
unlicensed.
Caffeine is unlicensed, subject only to food and drink regulations. Other
psychoactive substances, such as psychedelic mushrooms, khat, “herbal remedies” and
“food supplements” are available in Britain but produced without any regulation or
control.
The supply of drugs occurs through prescription, pharmacy sales, licensed sales,
licensed premises for consumption and unlicensed sales. In the prescription model, drugs
are prescribed by a licensed doctor and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist. Further
restrictions to the prescription model allow injectable diamorphine (heroin) to be
prescribed only by a doctor with a specialized license, the occasional requirement that
methadone be consumed in the pharmacy and the dispensing and injecting of
diamorphine under medical supervision in a specialized venue, as occurs in Switzerland.
In the pharmacy sales model, pharmacists make sales behind the counter with the
responsibility to make restrictions according to age, quantity and concerns regarding
misuse. The pharmacist is qualified to offer advice and health and safety information.
Licensed sales include drugs such as alcohol and tobacco where licensed sellers
are restricted to whom they can sell based on age and the hours in which they may sell,
and licensing authorities oversee the regulations of these drugs. A step beyond this is
licensed premises for sale and consumption, where the drug, mostly alcohol, is consumed
at the sale site, and there is the added restriction of intoxication of the purchaser.
The final existing supply option is unlicensed sales, where there are no existing
controls at point of purchase for some intoxicants. Mushroom vendors are starting to get