Introduction

For the very latest information on the legality, popularity and adverse effects of recreational drugs, visit Drugscope, the UK's leading drugs charity and centre of expertise on drugs at http://www.drugscope.org.uk/ or the governments drug information agency at http://http://www.talktofrank.com/.

Drugs in the UK are controlled by two laws: the Medicines Act (1968) and the Misuse of Drugs Act (1971). The Medicines Act bans the non-medical use of certain drugs. The Misuse of Drugs Act places banned drugs in different classes. The penalties for offences involving a drug depend on the class it is in. Class A drugs carry the highest penalties, Class C the lowest. First offenders that are charged with possessing drugs for their own use may get off with only a caution or a fine. However, even a caution means a criminal record.

Regular offenders, people selling drugs, or drug smugglers, can be sentenced to life imprisonment for trafficking.

It is an offence to allow anyone on your premises to produce, give away or sell illegal drugs. It's an offence even to offer to supply the drug free of charge. So if a parent knows that their child is sharing drugs with a friend in their house and does nothing to stop it, the parent has committed an offence.