Although drugs can be developed for beneficial medical reasons, some have harmful and dangerous effects. The use of potentially dangerous drugs is restricted or banned to promote public health and safety. 

The legal process of doing this is by “scheduling” the drugs, which is basically listing the drugs in groups according to the level of access the public has to them. The National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee (NDPSC) decides how to classify and schedule the drugs.

This committee consists of technical experts, representatives from various interest groups, and State and Territory government members.

The decisions of the NDPSC are recorded in the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Drugs and Poisons (SUSDP).  The SUSDP then forms the basis for state laws about access to and legality of drugs. 

The aim is to promote a uniform scheduling of substances throughout Australia. From June, the SUSDP will be known as the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP). 

In order to assess the risk and benefit of certain drugs and to determine the appropriate level of public access to drugs and medicines, the NDPSC will consider certain factors, which include:

·         How toxic is the substance?

·         What are the risks and benefits?

·         What are the potential hazards?

·         What is the extent and patterns of use of a substance?

·         What is the dosage and formulation of a substance?

·         Is access to such a substance necessary? The NDPSC is to take into account the toxicity of the substance compared with other substances that are available and have a similar purpose.

·         What is the potential abuse of a substance?

·         What are the purposes for which the substance is to be used?

·         Any other matters the Committee considers necessary to protect public health, including risks of death, illness or injury resulting from use of the substance.

The substances are listed in the Poisons Standard, in Schedules 1 to 9 in order of increasing degree of restriction.  For example, drugs in schedule 2 – 4 can be sold in pharmacies, whereas drugs listed on schedules 5 – 9 cannot. 

Schedule 9 substances are the most restricted because they are considered to be most likely to be abused or misused.  They are prohibited under the law, except when required for medical or scientific research, and teaching or training purposes with approval of the governmental Health Authorities. 

It is this Schedule 9 that contains the illegal recreational drugs, also known in some states as ‘drugs of dependence.’  These include ecstasy, heroin, ice and marijuana.

The Committee meets three times a year to discuss changes to the SUSDP, such as including new drugs on the Schedule.  The Committee advertises its agenda ahead of the meetings, to invite the public to comment on the upcoming decisions.  

The next meeting of the Committee is in June.  You can find the agenda on this site: http://www.tga.gov.au/ndpsc/index.htm.  At this meeting, one of the issues the Committee is going to discuss is whether mephedrone (Miaow Miaow) should be scheduled. 

The decisions of the Committee will be published in a gazette available on the same website.

Written by the National Children’s and Youth Law Centre – for more information on your legal rights check out www.lawsutff.org.au