Europe: Britain to Ban Spice, GBL, BZP

Submitted by David Borden on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 1:00am (Issue #599)

Politics & Advocacy

The British Home Office announced Tuesday that it is planning to ban several "legal highs," including "Spice," the club drug GBL, and the stimulant drug BZP. The substances will be added to the British list of controlled substances by year's end, said Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

''spice'' packet (courtesy wikimedia.org)

"There is a perception that many of the so called 'legal highs' are harmless, however in some cases people can be ingesting dangerous industrial fluids or smoking chemicals that can be even more harmful than cannabis," said Johnson. "Legal highs are an emerging threat, particularly to young people, and we have a duty to educate them about the dangers."

"Spice" is a sort of synthetic cannabinoid which is currently sold legally as a spray to apply to herbal cigarettes. It has already been banned in France and Germany. It will become a Class B drug -- in the middle tier of the British classification scheme -- like amphetamines or marijuana.

GBL (Gamma-butyrolactone) and a similar chemical, which are converted in to the Class C drug GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) in the body and often used as weekend party drugs, will become Class C drugs, the least serious drug classification. So will BZP (Benzylpiperazine) and related piperazines, which are stimulants taken as an alternative to amphetamine.

Under Britain's Misuse of Drugs Act of 1971, possession of Class C drugs can earn up to two years in prison, while possession of Class B drugs can earn up to five years. Dealing in either Class B or Class C drugs is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The Home Office has announced an education campaign around these newly classified substances. It is set to start at the beginning of the school year next month.

This work by StoptheDrugWar.org is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

Education (Coercion Free) NOT Incarceration Saves Lives

Sounds like Sativex has gone partying... gee never saw that coming... he he he!

And Tattoos Lead to Nipple Rings,
Thomas Paine IVXX

B.S. "I have always regarded Paine as one of the greatest of all Americans. Never have we had a sounder intelligence in this republic . . . It was my good fortune to encounter Thomas Paine's works in my boyhood . . . it was, indeed, a revelation to me to read that great thinker's views on political and theological subjects" Thomas Edison

Sat, 08/29/2009 - 5:22pm Permalink

ekathulium (not verified)

Big Brother

So the Home Secretary thinks that banning party drugs will stop all those people "ingesting dangerous industrial fluids". Do these politicians understand anything about logic? Or are they all consumed by Orwellian propaganda?

Mon, 08/31/2009 - 12:18am Permalink

metakid (not verified)

I agree. Education's the

I agree. Education's the key. Banning spice is just going to create a massive black market for it. And unless they ban related drugs, people are simply going to look for alternatives. http://www.newsy.com/videos/britain_bans_legal_highs. âInstead of using Spice, they will go back to cannabisâ¦instead of using BZP, they will go back to amphetamines, and instead of GBL, they will go back to GHB.â -- Steve Rolles, Transform Drug Policy Foundation. A ban is just the easy way out.

Fri, 09/04/2009 - 3:22pm Permalink

Anonymous (not verified)

I don't understand how this

I don't understand how this is going to work, spice has stopped selling but other blends are being sold, ones like "Skunk a new breed of weed" which I think is much more stronger than spice but short-lived (intense 30-60 minute high). Also BZP has stopped selling but another chemical is being used.. MBZP, not much difference in effects to BZP. Also, recently, alot of drugs have popped up in headshops etc and they are party powders, one which contains MDPV which I believe is very dangerous because of how potent it is with near 200 doses in 1g of powder.

The fact is, it's just a never-ending war on drugs which cannot be fought and neither are going to give up, it's just a waste of time for the government in my opinion.

Tue, 09/15/2009 - 1:56pm Permalink