In launching the bill Home Secretary Theresa May said it would deliver on the government's pledge to clamp down on so-called legal highs.
Under the new law legal highs could be banned for 12 months while the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs decides whether to ban them permanently. Anyone caught trafficking or supplying a substance that is subject to a temporary ban could face prosecution.
The bill also plans to bring in directly elected police and crime commissioners from May 2012 and crack down on pubs and off licences that sell alcohol to children.
Persistent offenders would face a fine of £20,000, double the current amount. May said that the aim of the bill was to give "the public, the police and councils the powers they need to deal with the issues that blight too many of our communities".
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