Preface to the 2nd Edition Free

Part of my work in the Home Office Forensic Science Service (FSS) involved the examination of drug-related items submitted by law enforcement agencies to determine if there was evidence of an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1971 (MDAct). If that process required no more than a comparison of analytical results with a table of controlled drugs then there would be little need for this book. In reality, the chemistry of drug legislation has a complexity sufficient to challenge some chemists, let alone the lay person, while some areas of the drug laws are rarely explored.

That Act came into force in 1973, and within a few years a substantial body of case-law and scientific interpretation had rapidly accumulated. To keep up to date in those early days, my colleagues and I annotated our copies of the Act with a succession of Modification Orders as well as collecting an expanding folder of loose notes on reported cases, legal interpretation and other aspects. Some years later, this material found its way into a set of lectures. After retiring from the FSS, those notes were pulled together into a 2003 book (see Bibliography), the purpose of which was to set out those technical complexities in drugs legislation as seen from the viewpoint of a forensic chemist. That short monograph was superseded by the first edition of this book, published in 2009 (see Bibliography), which continued with those same objectives.

Drug misuse continues to have a high political and public profile. Because of the large number of offenders regularly prosecuted, drugs legislation is subjected to regular scrutiny by the Courts. There is a need for all participants in the legal process of drug control – lawyers, criminologists, law enforcement officers and those involved in drug regulation – to have a basic familiarity with the underlying chemical principles. It is hoped that at least some of the content is accessible to non-scientists. For chemists, the extensive use of molecular structures in the text allows a complete and easier comprehension of the chemical background to the legislation, although some of the generic definitions can seem hard going. This book is intended to provide that background understanding and complements other publications that deal primarily with legal interpretation and the case law that has built up over the past 50 years. In the latter respect, the reader can do no better than refer to the comprehensive publication by Rudi Fortson QC (see Bibliography).

All jurisdictions have to address the question of whether certain activities with certain substances should be penalised and if so whether some substances should attract heavier penalties than others, regardless of whether those penalties are defined in the criminal law or are civil penalties or merely administrative sanctions. The King James Bible (Proverbs 13 : 14) tells us that ‘The law of the wise is the fountain of life…’: an inscription in the Central Criminal Court in London. Most would accept that modern laws controlling harmful substances reflect our wisdom. Yet within that broad acceptance, there is continued debate about which substances should be included and what the penalties for offences should be. Part of that concern lies in the reasons for control. One might believe that restrictions on certain drugs are a rational response to the relative harm of substances, whether that means harm to the individual or to society. However, it is clear that drug legislation has been, and continues to be, guided more by moral imperatives. Thus, the preamble to the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961) sets the tone by referring to the ‘evil of drug addiction’.

It is also apparent that controls on some substances reflect not just a moral viewpoint but some misguided measure of perceived harm. Thus, the relatively harmless hallucinogenic drugs (e.g., ‘magic mushrooms’) are treated as if they were as dangerous as heroin or cocaine. Unlike in most other areas of public health, the minimisation of harm from drugs does not appear to have a similar high priority. A growing body of academic work leads to the conclusion that the classification system in the MDAct and the International Treaties does not reflect the relative harmfulness of those substances. Extreme examples of this disconnect are alcohol and tobacco, particularly in many Western countries; both lie outside conventional drug control. While their sale and consumption is certainly restricted to varying degrees, penalties for transgression are minor compared to those that operate on often less harmful drugs. Such is the social acceptance of alcohol and tobacco that there is a general reluctance to even see them as psychoactive drugs, but together they cause far more damage to society and to individuals than all of the scheduled substances combined.

An opportunity has been taken to rearrange, update and expand the material in the 1st Edition. Inevitably, this book will also become dated, but it is hoped that some of the content has lasting value. But, while it is still necessary to anchor much discussion around the domestic legal and epidemiological situation, attention is also paid to developments at the international level as illustrated by the various United Nations Conventions and supranational role of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

In the title of this book, ‘Substance Misuse’ refers strictly to offences such as possession, supply, importation and production; it does not include areas such as the administration of poisons to self or others, criminal damage caused by chemical substances or acts such as driving a vehicle while impaired through alcohol or other drugs. No detailed account is provided of epidemiology, pharmacology, toxicology, or the wider social aspects of drug abuse, but the interested reader is directed to the Bibliography. Selected references to specific legislation and research publications are included at the end of each Chapter, but these are not meant to provide an exhaustive review of the subject matter. Because they are mentioned so frequently in various Chapters, there are no text citations to the MDAct 1971 or the three United Conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988. However, these are included in the Bibliography, together with links to much background information on the general chemistry of the substances described. Extensive background information on new psychoactive substances is available on the EMCDDA website and, for those in the European Union (EU) with access, the European Database on New Drugs (EDND). The United Kingdom is no longer a member of the EU; for this reason, certain information from EMCDDA is complete only up to December 2020.

There is no discussion of the arguments for or against legalisation, depenalisation or decriminalisation of some or all drugs, or to what extent drug misuse is a health problem as opposed to a law enforcement issue. This book is not a guide to general aspects of the law, stated cases, sentencing policy or related legislation. It is also beyond the scope of this book to provide any recommendations on the presentation of evidence in Court or how results should be set out in reports and statements. Analytical properties of the major drugs are only provided where they have a bearing on interpretation. Some aspects of synthesis are covered in the sections concerned with precursor chemicals.

Leslie A. King

Hampshire