Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act 1964

In 1964 the Conservative MP Sir Hugh Linstead tabled a Private Members Bill that was passed as the Dangerous Drugs Act 1964. It sought to quell growing concerns of the societal effects of the cultivation & usage of cannabis. In Britain since the war there had been a huge increase in criminal offences for possession of the drug with surveys suggesting that a great number of undergraduate students were users.

The same year Parliament also passed the Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act, outlawing the sale of amphetamines which had been linked to a rise in juvenile delinquency. The following year the Dangerous Drugs Act 1965, drafted in accordance with the 1961 United Nations Convention on Narcotic Drugs, consolidated previous drugs legislation.