EXPERT COMMENT: Legal highs review shows banning drugs does not solve drug problems

Professor Alex Stevens from the University of Kent comments on the government’s review into the ban on legal highs which has found the sale of these drugs has gone underground as an illegal trade as a result.

Professor Stevens is based in the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research at the University and researches on issues of drugs, crime and health, publishing extensively on these areas, with a particular focus on the sociology of drugs and crime, on risk behaviours by young people, on the use of evidence in policy and on quasi-compulsory drug treatment.

‘The government’s review of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 shows, once again, that banning drugs does not solve drug problems. New psychoactive substances have continued to emerge.

‘The market for them has merged with the illegal trade in street drugs. Price and potency have increased. Harms have been concentrated among the most vulnerable groups, including prisoners and homeless people.

‘This comes at a time when drug-related deaths have climbed to their highest ever levels, and services for people with drug problems are being cut. If the government is serious about reducing drug-related harms, it needs to invest in reducing homelessness, in treatment for mental health and drug problems, and in providing real rehabilitation in prisons and the community.’

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