News UK’s drug advisory panel rejects calls for nitrous oxide ban

[thegreenhand]

UK’s drug advisory panel rejects calls for nitrous oxide ban​

Nicola Davis
The Guardian
6 Mar 2023

Excerpts:

The UK’s drug advisory panel has rejected calls to ban the sale and possession of nitrous oxide for recreational use, despite the Home Office’s eagerness to do so, a new report has revealed.

While supplying nitrous oxide for psychoactive purposes is already banned, laughing gas or “nos” remains hugely popular among young people. Its growing use has thrown concerns about possible associated health and social problems into the spotlight.

In 2021 the Independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) was asked to review the harms of nitrous oxide by the then home secretary, Priti Patel, who vowed to “take tough action” on use of the drug.

The stance appears to have been backed by the current home secretary, Suella Braverman. In January a spokesperson for the department said the government was “determined to crack down on this scourge to protect our streets” adding it was “actively considering a ban on the sale and use of this harmful drug”.

The panel wrote that current evidence suggested the health and social harms of nitrous oxide were not commensurate with such a move, while sanctions that would apply under the act would be disproportionate for the level of harm associated with the drug.

 

[Morbid Sea Cow]

Awesome! Glad to see more and more of these concerted efforts into criminalization getting shut down.