Progress and further insights on the Psychoactive Substances Bill

An earlier post noted the potential criminalization of the liturgical use of incense, identified by Lord Howarth of Newport (Lab) during the report stage in the House of Lords of the Psychoactive Substances Bill. The Bill had been introduced by Lord Bates on 28 May 2015 and completed its third Reading in the Upper House on 20 July; its first reading in the Commons was on 21 July; and on 22 July the Home Affairs Committee announced that it would hold a short inquiry into “New psychoactive substances” which will inform the Commons stages of the passage of the Bill, due this autumn. Written submissions were invited, and we strongly advised anyone potentially affected to make a written submission advocating the inclusion of a specific exemption in Schedule 1 of the Bill. Continue reading →