Clause 43

by deleting the words “as defined in any written law relating to the misuse or control of drugs” in section 34 and substituting the words “or any psychoactive substance as defined in any written law relating to the misuse or control of drugs or harmful substances”;

by renumbering section 34 as subsection (1) of that section, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following subsections:“(2) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) for the possession of a psychoactive substance, it is a defence for the accused to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that the accused had the psychoactive substance in his or her possession for a legitimate purpose other than human consumption, regardless of whether that psychoactive substance is or is not fit for human consumption.(3) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) for possessing, smoking, administering or consuming a psychoactive substance —

for the purpose of proving that a substance or product is a psychoactive substance —

it is sufficient for the prosecution to prove that the substance or product has the capacity to have a psychoactive effect on an individual if the individual smokes, administers to himself or herself or otherwise consumes, the substance or product; and

it is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that the substance or product is not an excluded substance; and

a person who asserts that the psychoactive substance mentioned in paragraph (a) is an excluded substance bears the burden of proving that assertion on a balance of probabilities.(4) In this section, “excluded substance” and “psychoactive effect” have the meanings given by section 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973.”;

by inserting, immediately after the word “drugs” in the section heading of section 34, the words “or psychoactive substances”;

by inserting, immediately after the words “Health Sciences Authority” in section 99(1)(a)(i), the words “or the Home Team Science and Technology Agency”;

by deleting the words “or controlled substance” in section 99(1)(b) and substituting the words “, controlled substance or psychoactive substance”;

by deleting the definitions of “controlled drug” and “controlled substance” in section 99(2) and substituting the following definitions:“ “controlled drug”, “controlled substance” and “psychoactive substance” have the meanings given by section 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973;”;

by deleting the full-stop at the end of the definition of “Health Sciences Authority” in section 99(2) and substituting a semi‑colon, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following definition:“ “Home Team Science and Technology Agency” means the Home Team Science and Technology Agency established by section 3 of the Home Team Science and Technology Agency Act 2019.”; and

by deleting the words “or controlled substance” in the section heading of section 99 and substituting the word “, etc.”.