in some ways this approach is better for harm reduction (as people are at least fairly honest on places like Bluelight,Erowid etc about bad experiences or usage patterns that have made them ill) but does mean that patterns of binge use / addiction will be picked up on fairly quickly.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the info from this project has been fed to the ACMD for several years and used to shape their policies (although ACMD like the rest of its European counterparts wanted to control individual substances after they had sufficient evidence of harm, rather than pass a blanket ban.
I remember reading somewhere that only a fraction of ACMD were invited to the discussions about the new legislation; and noticing myself that many of their staff were missing from the published info and in their place where various officers of NCA and directly employed Home Office staff; as the Govt feared the ACMD would delay the ban even further (think it was just after the false start in April).
