Home Office amendment to the Psychoactive Substances Bill to protect medical research

The Academy of Medical Sciences welcomes the letter from the Home Office, received on 26 October 2015, which details the steps that the Government has taken to attempt to mitigate any potential unintended consequences of the Psychoactive Substances Bill for medical research. The Academy is also supportive of the need for clarity in the communication of the scope of the Bill to the research community, as identified by the Home Office.

The letter highlights that the Government is committed to ensuring that medical research is not impacted by the Bill, and outlines the proposal for inclusion of a new schedule with an exemption for ‘bona fide’ research. The new schedule for medical research was approved and moved to the Psychoactive Substances Bill during Committee stage, which concluded on 29 October 2015. The letter also confirms that research involving substances that are intended for later use in humans, such as in-vitro and animal research, is not within the scope of the Bill. We hope that this will be stated explicitly within the guidance accompanying the Bill, to reduce any risk of misinterpretation.

The Academy responded to the letter on 3 November 2015, thanking the Home Office for its commitment to safeguarding medical research. The response can be read here.

The Academy, together with the British Pharmacological Society, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Royal Society, the Society of Biology and the Wellcome Trust, wrote to the Home Secretary in June 2015 expressing concerns over the Psychoactive Substances Bill. The Home Office responded to the letter with clear reassurances that the Government was committed to ensuring that the Bill did not impact medical research.