Theresa May’s futile war on psychoactive drugs
The relationship between politics and science has never been easy, but there has rarely been a more embarrassing mismatch than in our drug laws. Supposedly a measure to protect the health of the nation, we have arrived at a situation where some of the most dangerous drugs are legal, some of the least dangerous are prohibited, and where many of the dangers from drug use arise from their illicit supply. But even by the standards of this self-imposed prohibition of science, the new Psychoactive Substances bill is a work of monumental ignorance that has taken drug legislation beyond the point of farce into the realm of surreal fantasy.
The motivation behind the bill is the wave of new psychoactive substances or legal highs. Grey market labs have rifled the scientific literature to create substances that produce similar effects to popular street drugs like cannabis, ketamine and ecstasy, but are different enough to avoid existing bans and are often significantly worse for your health. To try to address this problem, the government is trying a radically new approach: pretending that one of the most difficult problems in neuroscience - and one of the deep mysteries of consciousness - doesn't apply to them. It's a bold move, to say the least.
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