Positive analysis of why the misuse of drugs act 1971 needs to be replaced

Well known Liberal Democrat, Norman Baker, contributes an important Foreword to this excellent new paperback from legal publishers, Waterside Press, “putting justice into words”. They all do just that here!

Baker writes that “It is time to see the MDA 1971 for what it is: a bad law that has the opposite effect to that intended. The so-called war on drugs is lost. It could never be won. Let us replace this knee-jerk law with something rational, something evidence-based, something more humane.’ The call for action is well-timed but it’s doubtful that anything will happen, but at least we have this well-argued book from three Professors: Ilana Crome, David Nutt, and Alex Stevens. The editors are an interesting, eminent gathering of professorial expertise. Ilana Crome is Professor Emeritus of Addiction Psychiatry, the University of Keele. She has contributed widely to research, training and policy on addiction and substance use and is an editor of major textbooks in this field. Professor David Nutt is founder of “Drug Science UK” and author of over 500 papers and 35 books around the subject.

Alex Stevens is Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Kent. He has worked on issues of drugs, public health, and crime in the voluntary sector, as a researcher and as an adviser to the UK Government. We are fortunate that the editors are supported by 25 experts of considerable standing in the field of drug policy, education, and research.

The case they put is that for 50 years the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 has “dominated ill-conceived approaches to the prohibition of drugs and the criminalization of many offenders”. The editors continue, writing that “wilful blindness to scientific facts has distorted the dispensation of justice, prevented lifesaving investigation, sidelined critics, and thwarted advocates of politically inconvenient drugs law reform”. Accurate as a statement, of course, but its indicative of the substantial failure to rectify what remains a massive social and criminal problem.

“Drug Science and British Drug Policy” is well-described as “an epoch review by experts from a range of disciplines shows how lawmakers and the media have ignored the scientific evidence to sustain badly founded rhetoric in favour of blanket bans, punishment, and the marginalization of opponents.” The book concludes that “countless individuals (including the vulnerable, deprived, addicted and mentally ill) have therefore suffered unnecessarily”. And, if nothing else, the statistics on drugs misuse prove the point again and again. This paperback is the most comprehensive critique of the 1971 Act to date. The case for urgent change rests on the combined learning of leading medical, scientific, psychiatric, academic, legal, drug safety and other specialists to provide sound reasons “to re-think half a century of bad law”. We need a new law for 21st century, but, sadly, we don’t believe we’ll get it for a very long time. Thank you to Waterside and to the authors for at least raising the need for repeal and revision. Probably another 20-30 years will go by before we see real action: not a particular pleasant thought but do read the book.

The date of publication of this new paperback edition from Waterside Press is cited as 9th November 2022.

Is there any precise definition of the term “class action” in English law? No, apparently there isn’t. The erudite editors and contributing authors of this well-established text make this point clear from the outset. This is not to deny, however, that large numbers of claimants and (more rarely) defendants can and do launch such claims within a variety of circumstances. While such terms as “group litigation and “multi-party actions” have become increasingly commonplace, so too have various cases referred to as “class actions” particularly in the past four years -- and it has now been four years since the publication of the first edition of this distinguished law text, in which the term “class actions” shines forth in the title.

Fortunately -- and much to the advantage of the busy practitioner in this area of law, this well-nigh indispensable work of reference has recently emerged in a new second edition from Sweet & Maxwell, as class action cases become increasingly -- and relentlessly -- common. To offer only one example, the case of Lloyds/HBOS litigation is cited by the book’s general editors as the first judgment in a shareholder class action in England & Wales, predictably paving the way for more such class actions in the not-too-distant future.

Practitioners in this relatively new and fast-developing area of law will without a doubt, welcome the assistance offered in this new edition, which has been fully updated to reflect recent key developments. Four new chapters on class action litigation, for example, have been added to the expanded text which includes such issues as data protection claims, product liability, insurance, and employment.

As noted in the Foreword by Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls, this text is ‘a detailed and practical guide to the conduct of class actions’ which, he adds, ‘have become ‘a firmly entrenched and increasingly important part of the legal scene in England & Wales.’ They are being brought, he says, ‘in almost every conceivable area, from international pollution, motor car manufacturing and pharmaceutical claims... to financial services, shareholders’, and competition proceedings.’

Bearing in mind the complexity, the breadth, and the depth of this subject, it is reassuring to note that this book contains a mine of useful resources including, as you would expect, tables of cases, statutes and statutory instruments, as well as a table of EU and international legislation and a reassuringly extensive table of abbreviations. Copiously footnoted and featuring numbered paragraphs throughout, the book features a detailed table of contents and an eleven-page index to aid navigation.

As the designation of ‘class action’ can conceivably become relevant in every aspect of law as time progresses, this definitive and eminently readable text should be considered an indispensable purchase for every law library and every practitioner.

The date of publication of this hardback second edition from Sweet and Maxwell is cited as at 19 August 2022.