Psychoactive Substances Bill [HL]

Before the noble Baroness tells us what she wishes to do with her amendment, I want to say that I...

The noble Lord is right: I was rather remiss in not saying that I was sympathetic to his views on...

I just want to explore the point in Amendments 4 and 6 that, because there is only a single marke...

I thank the noble Baroness for her points, and I agree with her. However, it is important that we...

I am not sure whether it is fair to ask the Minister this, but perhaps her noble friend sitting b...

I thank the noble Lord. I have a lot of sympathy for what he said, and I think that it is right f...

My Lords, I thank noble Lords who contributed to this debate, particularly the noble and learned ...

The noble Baroness explained that she was a chocolate addict. However, chocolate is exempted in S...

I will send her chocolates.

I can assure noble Lords that we are dealing here with the trad...

For the avoidance of doubt, I think that something should be done in this area and I am concerned...

That is a fair point, in that it is asking how this will be tested. We will come to those points ...

May I take that as a commitment to write to noble Lords before Report? This has raised a very big...

I am happy to do that—let us set the matter out in writing. However, I want to state two basic pr...

My Lords, when we talk about “banning”, we mean the substance being used to commit an offence und...

My Lords, before the noble Baroness responds, may I ask a question? It will display the depths of...

I am not sure at whom that question is directed. I could, of course, easily answer but I am sure ...

I thank the Minister. I also thank all noble Lords who have contributed to this debate. I spoke e...

Moved by

Lord Paddick

1: Clause 1, page 1, line 3, after “about” insert “reviewing th...

My Lords, I will speak also to the other amendments in my name and that of my noble friend Lady H...

My Lords, it is indeed time for a fundamental review of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. It is now a...

My Lords, I cannot support these amendments, not because I challenge the sincerity of those who w...

The specific terms of the amendment are:

“The Secretary of State shall commission an indepe...

My Lords—

May I just finish this point? On the whole, the suggestion that in your Lordships’ House it is be...

I put the same question that I asked the noble Lord, Lord Condon. I hear what he says about the r...

I would give a very similar answer to that given by the noble Lord, Lord Condon. He said that he ...

If I may make one small point: any convention about not voting in Committee is very recent, and i...

If that question was addressed to me, I should perhaps have given way earlier. There is every cas...

It seems to me that the noble Lord has changed his mind. I want to be very clear. A convention is...

It is my fault and my stupidity but I do not understand how this amendment can properly be regard...

I said that it had some of the ingredients of a wrecking amendment because it would delay by at l...

My Lords, I am puzzled. Somebody has lost the plot and it is probably me. I do not see why this h...

My Lords, if I may assist the Committee, clearly these amendments can be taken separately and, if...

I wonder if it might help the Committee if the noble Lord withdrew Amendment 115 simply so that w...

I acknowledge the strength of feeling of many noble Lords on this issue but I hope we can all acc...

I thank the noble Lord for giving way. He says that head shops have no consideration for their cu...

I think I actually said that it is quite common in the legal highs market for legal high sellers—...

My Lords, for the third time, I ask the same question: if the link between delaying the Bill and ...

I can only say that I am not aware that it is currently Labour Party policy to press for such a r...

My Lords, it is wise to remind ourselves of what has been going on in relation to these substance...

I would like to point out that the Government introduced what I consider to be a very good instru...

From all his experience, does the noble and learned Lord anticipate that there may be problems in...

The impact assessment to some extent deals with that. It is plain that the difficulty has arisen ...

Perhaps I might add to this conversation about the need for evidence. At Second Reading, on the m...

My Lords, first, I welcome the amendment and the way in which it was proposed by the noble Lord,<...

Of those 120 deaths, for how many were new psychoactive substances the sole cause and for how man...

I do not have an exact breakdown, but that is how the health—

I can assist the Minister, because in only 23 of those deaths did the post mortem find only psych...

The fact that it is present in the death of a young person is an absolute tragedy. The Government...

The scientists who are advising me say that all the deaths have possibly been a result of banned ...

These substances are available. For example, a grandmother told me about the death of her grandch...

No one is suggesting that we should stand idly by. No one is suggesting that these new psychoacti...

That is not exactly what the amendment says and we see a risk there to the prospects for the Bill...

My Lords, a few minutes ago in his speech, the Minister distinguished between the issue of new ps...

I certainly agree with the noble Baroness that the wider issue is not narrow, it is very broad, b...

My Lords, the debate this afternoon has been passionate on both sides, and both sides of the argu...

Moved by

Baroness Hamwee

2: Clause 1, page 1, line 7, at end insert—

“( ) Secti...

My Lords, this amendment is also in the name of my noble friend Lord Paddick, and I will speak to...

My Lords, I shall speak briefly to this amendment because the noble Baroness has said most of wha...

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, has demonstrated why anecdote is no substitute for go...

I should like to make one simple point, which is that I agree absolutely with the noble Lord that...

My Lords, like the noble Lord, Lord Walton, who spoke last week during the supplementaries on the...

My Lords, I have no idea whether cannabis is relevant and effective in dealing with nausea or spa...

May I say how welcome it is to see the noble Baroness, Lady Chisholm of Owlpen, on the Front Benc...

My Lords, as far as I am concerned, the issues that have been raised in this debate are certainly...

As has already been said, one assumes—though life is full of surprises—that the Government’s resp...

My Lords, first, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, for giving us the opportunity to have ...

How, then, does the Minister explain that heroin, which is a far more dangerous drug, is in Sched...

I shall come to that a little further on. The point made by the noble Lord about diamorphine, whi...

The Minister refers to cannabis causing severe problems for people with mental health problems. I...

The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience has not taken a position. As we found ou...

Jayden.

There was a video, which I would be keen to see. Perhaps the noble Baroness could send me the lin...

My Lords, I cannot be disappointed because my expectations were not high. The Minister has been v...

Moved by

Baroness Meacher

3: After Clause 1, insert the following new Clause—

“...

My Lords, I shall also speak to Amendments 109 and 114, which propose that the Bill should be imp...

My Lords, I find it baffling that the Government, presented with the evidence from the two labora...

My Lords, I very much support what has been said on this amendment and, indeed, the amendment its...

My Lords, somebody has to give the Government some support on this. Amendment 3 talks in the firs...

My Lords, I wonder whether I can quickly try to squash this. A clamp-down on new psychoactive sub...

I thank the noble Baroness for that clarification. As I say, we are divided between those who bel...

I thank the noble Baroness for introducing this amendment. I am conscious that if I had had the o...

It may be relevant to note on the record that when the BBC journalist began interviewing a very s...

I will come to that in just a minute because it is a specific point which the noble Baroness, Lad...

The Minister invited us to look at page 38 of the expert panel’s report, where it recognised that...

Let me try to avoid the ambiguity in it. The expert panel recommended that there should be a blan...

Can the Minister go back to his point on post-legislative scrutiny? I think the House at a subseq...

I am very happy to do that. We are in Committee and this is where the Government listen to the ar...

Should the Irish Government take post-legislative scrutiny of their legislation, will the Ministe...

Of course we will take it into account, but should we necessarily stop taking our own advice and ...

One has to think about whether the demolition of the head shops is a positive or a negative when ...

We can debate what benefit labelling that says “Plant food” or “Not for human consumption” is. Th...

I thank the Minister for his reply. Obviously, like the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, my expectati...

Moved by

Baroness Meacher

4: After Clause 1, insert the following new Clause—

“...

My Lords, Amendments 4 and 6 seek to ensure that following commencement of the Act, the Governmen...

My Lords, I just wonder whether it would be for the Secretary of State to monitor this. I would h...

Certainly, I am not against such a review. It is for those who wish to make the case for it to pu...

My Lords, I have listened to arguments on both sides and I am struck by the point that we somehow...

My Lords, I had not intended to speak on this amendment until I heard the speech of the noble Lor...

My Lords, before the noble Lord sits down, yes, there may have been a reduction in the use of ill...

Again, I must disagree with the noble Lord, Lord Patel. Of course, harm reduction is good and of ...

My Lords, I support this amendment and the comments of the noble Lords, Lord Paddick, Lord Howart...

My Lords, one rises with some trepidation following that passionate plea by the noble Baroness, L...

My Lords, I suggest that post-legislative scrutiny would be assisted if the Home Secretary, on be...

My Lords, I am sympathetic to the noble Baroness’s amendment. Of course, we need some monitoring ...

We have an amendment in this group and it is not about post-legislative scrutiny. It calls for th...

Moved by

Baroness Meacher

7: Clause 2, page 1, line 14, after “Act”” insert “syntheti...

My Lords, in moving this amendment, I will also speak to Amendment 8. I apologise that these have...

My Lords, my noble friend and I have Amendments 9 and 10 in this group. Amendment 9 presents me w...

My Lords, the definition of a psychoactive substance in the Bill does indeed seem to me rather va...

My Lords, I would be interested in hearing the Minister’s response to the noble Baroness, Lady Me...

My Lords, I shall comment briefly on this group. I hear the debate on Amendments 7 and 8 and will...

My Lords, these amendments seek to reframe the definition of a psychoactive substance for the pur...

I am grateful to the noble Lord for giving way. I would like to understand—maybe if I had heard s...

That is a good point. There are a number of ways. Perhaps I may make the point that I have been t...

It seems to me that this is a fairly crucial part of the Bill because the argument, quite rightly...

That is so, and many a true word is often spoken in jest—such as when the noble Lord talked about...