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A
B I L L
TO
Legalise and regulate the sale, supply and use of cannabis for recreational and therapeutic purposes; and for connected purposes.
BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
1 Rescheduling of cannabis and cannabis resin
| (1) | In the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971—
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| (a) | in subsection (1)(a) of section 2 (controlled drugs and their classification for the purposes of the Act), for the words “Part I, II or III” there shall be substituted the words “Part I, II, III or IIIA”;
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| (b) | in paragraph 1(a) of Part II of Schedule 2 (controlled drugs), the words “cannabis and cannabis resin” shall be omitted; and
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| (c) | after Part III, there shall be inserted—
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"PART IIIA
CLASS D DRUGS
1. The following substances, namely—
2. Any preparation or other product containing a substance for the time being specified in paragraph 1 above.
| (2) | In paragraph 1(a) of Schedule 1 to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 1985, the words “cannabis and cannabis resin” shall be omitted.
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2 Supply of cannabis by cultivation
| (1) | Section 6 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 shall be amended as follows.
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| (2) | In subsection (1), after the words “time being in force”, there shall be inserted the words “to subsection (3) below or the terms of any licence issued under section 7A of this Act,”.
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| (3) | After subsection (2) there shall be inserted—
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| "(3) | Subject to the following conditions, it shall be lawful for an unlicensed private person to cultivate hemp for the production of a Class D drug for his personal use. The conditions are that—
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| (a) | Class D drugs produced under this provision shall not be commercially supplied by such a person or from his premises;
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| (b) | the cultivation must not take place on commercial land or premises or on any land or premises other than the place where such a person resides; and
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| (c) | the cultivation and production shall comply with any regulations made by the Secretary of State."
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3 Licensing
After section 7 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, there shall be inserted—
4 Consequential amendments
| (1) | The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is amended as follows—
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| (2) | In section 4 (restriction of production and supply of controlled drugs), in subsection (1) after the word “force”, there shall be inserted the words “or to the terms of any licence issued under section 7A of this Act.”.
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| (3) | In section 5 (restriction of possession of controlled drugs), after the words “controlled drug”, there shall be inserted the words “other than a Class D drug”.
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| (4) | In subsection (3) of section 5, after the words “section 28 of this Act”, there shall be inserted the words “or to the terms of any licence inserted under section 7A of this Act.”.
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| (5) | In section 8 (occupiers etc. to be punishable for permitting certain activities to take place there), for paragraph (d) there shall be substituted—
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| "(d) | smoking prepared opium; and
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| (d) | smoking or otherwise ingesting Class D drugs save on residential premises or in accordance with the terms of a licence issued under section 7A of this Act,""
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| (6) | In subsection (2) of section 18 (miscellaneous offences), after the words “section 3”, there shall be inserted the words “or 7A”.
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| (7) | In section 25 (prosecution and punishment of offences), after subsection (2), there shall be inserted—
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| (2A) | An offence committed in relation to a Class D drug shall be punishable as if it had been committed in relation to a Class C drug.
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5 Expenses
There shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament—
| (a) | any expenses of the Secretary of State under this Act; and
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| (b) | any increase attributable to this Act of the sums payable under any other Act.
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6 Short title, commencement and extent
| (1) | This Act may be cited as the Legislation of Cannabis Act 2001.
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| (2) | This Act shall come into force three months after it is passed.
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| (3) | This Act extends to Northern Ireland.
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