15: New Psychoactive Substances and the Criminal Law^†

Following domestic and international concern over the prevalence and ‘recreational use’ of new psychoactive substances (NPS) – being substances that typically do not fall within the three main UN drug conventions or under bespoke legislation – the UK has attempted to use an array of legislative measures to control such substances, but with limited success. In 2015, the UK introduced the Psychoactive Substances Act (PSA 2015) by which civil and criminal measures have been enacted to impose and enforce a ‘blanket ban’ on NPS with prescribed exceptions. This chapter summaries the law as it has been applied to NPS, discusses the PSA 2015, and considers its strengths and shortcomings.