Senate agrees with proposal, designer drugs to be banned from July 1

Designer drugs will be banned in the Netherlands from July 1. New psychoactive substances will be added to the Opium Act on that date. The Senate approved the Cabinet's proposal to ban groups of substances that have the same basic chemical structure on Tuesday.

Thus far, manufacturers of this type of new drug have been able to circumvent laws by altering the composition of the materials slightly to ensure that they stay legal. The results remain around the same, and they are often damaging to the health.

“They replace one or two molecules, and suddenly it is a different substance that no longer falls under the Opium Act,” said Peter Jansen, subject matter expert on drugs at the police.

The law change will result in lists of substance groups being banned. This will cut criminals off, said the Minister of Justice, David van Weel, who is mainly referring to undermining criminality.

The police and the Public Prosecution Service have been pleading for this ban for a long time. They feel this will lead to a reduction in production and trade. “A comprehensive law is essential to effectively tackle the trade in these substances,” said Willem Woelders, the drug portfolio holder at the police.

Vincent Karremans, the State Secretary for Prevention, pointed out the health risks of designer drugs. These include poisoning, heart palpitations, and addiction. “The altered law gives off a clear signal: this stuff is dangerous, stay away from it.”

The ban means that an altered drug cannot be sold legally. An example of this is the 3-MMC drug, which is succeeded by 2-MMC. This drug is currently legal, but this will no longer be the case due to the law change.

D66, CDA, BBB, SP, VVD, JA21, ChristenUnie, 50PLUS, OPNL, and SGP voted in favor of the proposal. The political parties of GroenLinks-PvdA, Volt, FVD, and PvdD voted against the proposal.

The opponents felt the law was poorly substantiated, and that it will be hard to enforce and control. They also feel that it is not proven that many of the substances are damaging.