The Psychoactive Substances Act

Speakers

• The Rt. Hon. The Lord Howarth of Newport CBE
• Rudi Fortson QC (25 Bedford Row)
• Dr Robert E Ardrey (Director, Triple A Forensics Ltd)

Chair

Professor Ian Dennis (UCL)

This talk is organised by the UCL Centre for Criminal Law

About the talk

The Psychoactive Substances Act gives effect to the government’s policy to prohibit the production and supply of drugs commonly referred to as ‘legal highs’. The Act is controversial and the offences it creates may present significant issues for their use in practice. The issues will be discussed by Lord Howarth of Newport, a former Minister who has taken a particular interest in the Act, and Rudi Fortson QC, a barrister and noted expert on serious crime, including the drug laws.

About the speakers

Rt Hon Lord Howarth of Newport is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Drug Policy Reform. Alan Howarth was an MP from 1983 to 2005, first for Stratford-on-Avon and then for Newport East. He has been Minister for Schools, Higher Education and Science, Employment and Equalities, and the Arts. He currently chairs the APPG for Arts, Health and Wellbeing.

Rudi Fortson QC is a barrister and Visiting Professor at Queen Mary University of London. He is a specialist in matters of serious crime, including fraud, money-laundering, confiscation of assets and the drug laws. He has written extensively on these matters in addition to his advocacy and advisory work.

Dr R E Ardrey was head of the Mass Spectrometry Research Unit at the Central Research Establishment of the Home Office Forensic Science Service for some twelve years before becoming a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science and Analytical Chemistry at the University of Huddersfield where he worked for fifteen years. He has been an independent forensic science consultant undertaking case reviews in drugs related cases, primarily on behalf of the defence, for the last ten years. He has acted as an expert witness in many cases involving NPS both in the UK and New Zealand.