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Nowhere is this more evident than with Novel Psycho-
active Substances (NPS). Over the past decade, we’ve seen
an increasing number of new drugs available on both the
black market and through legal means. One of the biggest
issues surrounding NPS is the lack of information. Reaction- 5
ary politicians have passed over 40 new laws in Australia to
try to expand the battlefront of the war on drugs to include
these new, unknown substances. A diverse range of people,
from the media to users of other drugs , have used slippery
language to denigrate these new drugs and more specifically,
the people who choose to use them.

NSW, SA and WA have all introduced and passed legisla-
tion to ban anything that is a psychoactive substance. Well,
anything other than the large list of exempt psychoactive
substances, including some food products (like caffeine),
alcohol, nicotine and many pharmaceuticals. Ireland passed
similar legislation in 2010 and England is now looking at
passing similar laws. These laws are not targeted at protect- 5. RE VIE WIN G AND
ing the community as their cheerleaders suggest. These laws
are simply an extension of the war between drugs. A SS E SS IN G THE

The potential risks and harms of NPS are, by defini- E FFEC TIVE NE SS
tion, unknown. That also goes for their potential ben- O F L AWS AND
efits. Something that has no history of human use is
not inherently dangerous, it is inherently unknown. If REG U L ATI O NS
policy makers were sensible, this is what they would
focus on. Instead they have chosen the path of prohi- RE L ATIN G TO
bition which does not help to inform anyone, either ILLI CIT AND
themselves or potential consumers. In many states, the
term ‘psychoactive’ has been conflated to mean danger- S Y NTH E TI C D RUG S;
ous, in much the same way that the term ‘drug’ is gener-
ally used to refer to illicit substances only in a pejorative AND
manner.

Legal HighsIt’s easy to think that your own choice is more in-
formed and better than someone else’s choice. You’re
inside your own head, so you know what you know
quite well. Perhaps you really are more informed and
making better choices than others. Each drug carries
unique risks, some more than others.

If you want to talk to someone else about the drug
they’re choosing to use, try to start from a non-judge-
mental position. This will make it easier for you to en-
gage with them meaningfully and actually hear what
they know and have to say. They might be quite well Novel
informed about the drug and teach you something you
didn’t know. Or perhaps they know very little and you
are able to provide them with some information that
will affect their future decisions. Psychoactive

Drugs aren’t dangerous because they’re psycho-
active and telling someone that they’ll become a
sloth/loser/failure/addict or that they will die Substances
instantly after ingesting it doesn’t help anyone
make healthier and more informed choices.

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WHACK35_LYOT.indd 57 11-Oct-16 4:25:32 PM