Opium Act

From 1 July 2025, the entire group of NPS (new psychoactive substances) will be banned. For the first time, a complete class of chemicals sharing the same base structure will fall under the Opium Act. Politicians are calling this a clever way to stay ahead of designer drug development. At present, designer drugs are something of a hydra: ban 4-MMC, and 3-MMC and 2-MMC pop up in its place.

The government has a point: those new variants are often impure, less potent and barely tested, which increases the risks. A group-wide ban makes sense. However, in doing so you simultaneously push more money into the illegal circuit. So why not also begin legalising the mainstream drugs upon which these imitations are based?

LSD, MDMA, psilocybin: an enormous amount is already known about their effects, safety and dosage — provided you know where to look. What’s more, many of these substances are demonstrably safer than alcohol. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy shows great promise in treating PTSD. And even recreationally, users know perfectly well what they’re doing — just ask the next festival-goer wandering past with pupils in night-vision mode.

Ban the rubbish that circumvents legislation and goes untested, but legalise the substances whose effects we’ve understood for a long time. Dr Hofmann cycled into the future in 1943. It’s time to get back in the saddle.