Section 7(3) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (c. 38) (“the 1971 Act”) requires regulations to be made to allow the use for medical purposes of the drugs which are subject to control under that Act. Section 7(3) does not apply to any drug designated by order under section 7(4) as a drug to which section 7(4) is to apply.

This Order amends the Misuse of Drugs (Designation) (England, Wales and Scotland) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/704) by inserting a further range of synthetic cannabinoids into Part 1 of Schedule 1 to that Order (which specifies the list of controlled drugs to which section 7(4) of the 1971 Act applies), excluding those synthetic cannabinoids which are already specified at sub-paragraphs (h) to (s), two other compounds which are not required to be designated (clonitazene and etonitazene), and several other compounds that have legitimate medical uses (acemetacin, atorvastatin, bazedoxifene, indometacin, losartan, olmesartan, proglumetacin, telmisartan, viminol and zafirlukast).

An Impact Assessment will be published alongside the Explanatory Memorandum on the legislation.gov.uk website.