Hansard

I thank the minister and fellow members for their speeches, which have been constructive. We all agree that something has to be done about new psychoactive substances. The work that the Scottish Government has done with Police Scotland, the choices for life campaign, outreach support through Crew 2000 and modern technology is welcome. We need to get the message across that new psychoactive substances are dangerous.

I concur with my fellow members who mentioned head shops. There are a number of those shops in my Glasgow Kelvin constituency and the most shocking thing about them, apart from the paraphernalia that they sell, is that tourists and others can unwittingly walk into them because they advertise other supplies besides these substances, which I believe should be banned. Because some people simply wander into these shops without realising what they sell, and given everyone’s concern about the issue, I suggest that these shops be looked at. Like other members, I also think that the use of the term “legal high” should be addressed as it gives out entirely the wrong message.

In recent years, new psychoactive substances have rapidly changed the global drugs market. Substances that are not under international control but which mimic the effects of controlled substances are now pretty much widely available and have the potential to pose a serious risk to public health and safety. As other members have pointed out, despite their being marketed as a legal alternative to controlled substances, users cannot be certain of either the health risks of using them or their legal status.

As has been mentioned, the internet has created a global marketplace, making access to and distribution of these substances easier for people of all ages. It is also important to highlight, as the police have done, the potential for organised criminals to exploit the market for these substances.

Given the quite frightening speed at which that market has developed, given the wide availability of and access to these substances and given the concerns about their increasing use, the issue has become very significant and it is good that we are debating it this afternoon. However, although it is international in nature and requires collective global action, there is still no standard national or international approach to the matter. I know that many countries have adopted broader legislative approaches to controlling new psychoactive substances. New Zealand has already been mentioned, but I note that on 1 January 2012 an act came into force in Austria controlling new psychoactive substances listed in regulation by the Austrian Minister of Health and which are not subject to the 1961 or 1971 UN drugs conventions. Moreover, in Hungary, Government legislation took effect on 3 April 2012 that created a schedule C to existing legislation listing such drugs appearing on the market. In any case, although New Zealand, Ireland and these other countries have put into effect proposals to stop the supply of these substances, we do not yet know how successful they have been.

I was very pleased to read the G8 statement of intent on new psychoactive substances, which was published on 25 June 2013 and commits signatories including the UK, the United States of America, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and many others to putting in place a range of measures to address the challenges posed by such substances, and to sharing intelligence on them, their impact on public health and the various supply routes. As all members have made clear this afternoon, we have to work constructively and collectively on this matter. New psychoactive substances represent a danger to the whole of our society, particularly our young people. Last week’s tragedy in Glasgow has already been mentioned and, of course, my sympathies and everyone else’s go out to the family affected.

We need a global approach to the issue. As members have pointed out, the Scottish Government has been doing a very good job but the availability of these substances on the internet makes things very difficult to police. I know that we are working with the UK Government on this but I wonder whether the minister can give us an update on what has been happening in that respect. In her opening speech, for example, she referred to the latest information that is coming out.

The minister also mentioned the drugs strategy and I hope that we might have a regular debate on it so that we can find out what progress is being made. The issue is certainly important. Certain drugs might be legal—and I hate to use that term in connection with these substances—but they pose a particular threat simply because they can be bought off the internet. As Graeme Dey said, anyone can go into one of these head shops and pay X amount of money for these substances but they are a lot cheaper on the internet. Moreover, criminals can get access to a lot more of them.

There is a lot to be said for this debate. I thank everyone for their good contributions and hope that we can move forward in tackling what is a very serious international situation.