Zombie drug Spice could become Class A following demands to the Home Office
ZOMBIE drug Spice could become a Class A drug after the Home Office asked to “refresh” its classification.
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has been told to look into whether the synthetic cannabinoids should be changed from their current Class B status.
In a debate in Parliament last week, Tory MP Ben Bradley argued for stronger punishments for those caught dealing variants like Spice or Mamba.
He told how he could find bags of the potentially lethal drugs lying on the street outside his constituency office in Mansfield.
He said: “These drugs are not only cheap, they are also accessible.
"I have literally seen bags of Mamba lying in the street outside my office. It is not expensive to replace, and the current laws and penalties for selling Mamba and Spice mean that there is not a real deterrent for dealers.
“If I can walk down the high street and pick up a bag of it—literally pick it up for free in the street—then it is clear that people do not fear the repercussions of being caught with these drugs.
“There need to be stronger judicial consequences, particularly for manufacturing and dealing in these drugs; currently, the profit outweighs the risk.
“It is only by putting the fear of God into manufacturers and cutting off supply lines that we can hope to make a tangible impact on the ground. Tougher penalties for dealers and manufacturers would lead to increased prices for users, and more powers for the police to protect local residents.”
The policing minister Nick Hurd said he was going to ask the council to “advise on refreshing its assessment.”
He warned though that reclassification would not be a “silver bullet” to the problem.
A cross-party group of MPs is also mounting a campaign to decriminalise drug use, in an open letter today in The Sunday Times.
They write: "If the aim is to reduce harm to society, prohibition is an abject failure."
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