Thursday, 8 April 2010

It seems we do not have to ask the Commission

Lord Willoughby de Broke, the other UKIP peer in the House of Lords asked HMG about the proposed ban on mephedrone, which is widely opposed and has been described by various analysts as being illegal under EU rules, "whether they were required to consult the European Union before banning mephedrone".

HMG, in the person of Lord West again, thinks no.
The UK Government do not consider that they are required to consult the European Commission before controlling mephedrone under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

The technical standards directive is not designed to cover action by member states to control dangerous drugs and consequently no consultation with the Commission is necessary prior to laying a draft order before Parliament to control mephedrone under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
It will be interesting to see if HMG's lawyers will turn out to be right on the subject.
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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous8 April 2010 at 20:22

    The problem that the Irish have had in banning the drug is trade-related:

    http://www.independent.ie/national-news/eu-rules-delay-move-to-ban-deadly-drug-2102861.html

    I think that the MDA 1971 is a red herring on the part of HMG.

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