Within this document, I talk about how the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act is outdated. This essay critically discusses the Act with reference to Stop and Search, County Lines, and prisons.
The 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act is outdated: Critically discuss the Misuse of Drugs Act with
reference to emergent drug trends covered in this unit.
In the UK, drug use has always been prevalent for example it’s estimated in the year 2020
one in five citizens aged 16 to 24 years old had taken a drug in the last year which was
approximately 1.3 million people. (Drug misuse in England and Wales: year ending March
2020, 2020) The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 has a long 50-year history in which it has slowed
down distribution and prevention of drug use, despite the accomplishments of this act there
are many flaws in the way it has been used for example a women known as Suzanne
Sharkey was an undercover police officer in the 1990s, however, she turned into an
alcoholic and drug user she believed the biggest barrier to recovery was the drug laws and
said “The criminalisation closed so many doors for them that they couldn’t move on with
their lives.” (Clarkson, 2021)
How has the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 prevented county lines?
County lines are given their name because of the dedicated mobile phones lines that are
used to help facilitate the drug deals usually the phones are cheap and disposable to avoid
detection from the authorities such as the police. (NSPCC , 2021) County lines are where
illegal drugs are transported from cities to small towns often but not always by children or
vulnerable people who have been pressured or groomed into a gang. Due to county lines,
reports show an increase of violence and weapon-related crimes in the areas the drugs have
been taken too, (National Crime Agency , n.d.) so because of the country lines, the Misuse of
Drugs Act 1971 has failed the children and vulnerable people as it hasn’t kept them safe.
The Children’s society declares that because of lockdown and the increased use of county
lines this has allowed for more drugs to be available as throughout lockdown people may
have been trying more drugs as they had nothing else to do in the UK. (The Children's
Society, 2020) The Children’s Society also state that there has been a further increase of
arrests by 55% in London since the start of the lockdown. (The Children's Society, 2020) The
Misuse of Drugs Act shouldn’t criminalise children or vulnerable people as this is an
outdated method, the act should focus on rehabilitating and making people feel safe from
drugs. Due to the act being so old it’s
believed that The Misuse of Drugs act
1971 is severely outdated and
doesn’t fit into today’s society for
example there has been an increase
by 807% in which children have been
referred for support by councils
concerning modern-day slavery. (The
Children's Society, 2020)
(https://www.london.gov.uk/city-hall-blog/lifting-
lid-county-lines)
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