The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016
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| Pic from www.thesun.co.uk |
New legislation comes into effect from 26 May (today) which prohibits the production, distribution, sale and supply of all psychoactive substances with the exception with those in use everyday such as medicines, alcohol, cigarettes and caffeine.
Legal highs imitate the effects of illegal drugs and contain synthetic compounds; the new law contains new substances which were not controlled by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Legal highs cannot be sold for human consumption. To get round this, they are often sold as plant food, incense, or salts
This specific piece of legislation means that drug and alcohol abuse policies will have to extend to cover/include legal highs .
There is a very helpful guide, produced by ACAS, which encourages employers to stick to the acronym CARR:
- Consider - Include legal highs when writing a drug/alcohol policy
- Act - Be clear about what will happen if employees consume them
- Remind - Tell employees if legal highs are not permitted at work
- Read - Put policies in place sooner rather than later
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