The UK Home Office has opened a consultation seeking views on a proposal to tighten controls on the substances Gamma-Butyrolactone (GBL) and 1,4-Butanediol (1,4-BD), which are controlled drugs that also have wide-ranging uses in industry as solvents.
Joe Bradley is a Biochemist with decades of experience in controlled drug regulations, drug discovery and cheminformatics. He has spent the last 12 years working to improve controlled drug and regulatory compliance within the chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry, through the development of software solutions which allows the rapid and accurate identification of controlled and regulated chemicals.
He founded Scitegrity in 2011 and the tools he helped create are now used by many of the worlds top chemical and pharmaceutical companies, specialist controlled drug suppliers and regulators.
He has consulted for regulators globally, helping to refine and assess the impact of proposed controlled drug regulations before final enactment.
When not absorbed in chemical regulations you'll find him on is skateboard, trials bike or with snooker cue in hand.
The proposal is to abolish the current broad exemption from drugs licensing for industrial users of these substances, and replace it with an exemption for mixtures containing them, the consultation document suggests concentration thresholds of 70% (Option 1) or 99% (Option 2). This will mean that those who handle high purity GBL and 1,4-BD will need a licence, but many legitimate products that contain them will be exempt from licensing controls, as long as they are not intended for ingestion.
Specifically, the UK Government proposes that high purity GBL and 1,4-BD should be placed in Schedule 1 to the 2001 and 2002 Regulations and require a licence, while mixtures containing up to 70% GBL or 1,4-BD are subject to a qualified exemption under Option 1, and an alternative 99% under Option 2. While these are the proposed options, feedback received during the consultation will help determine the final decision. The proposed exemption seeks to ensure that many legitimate products (such as inks and coatings) made with GBL and 1,4-BD remain exempt from licensing controls. The proposed exemption for mixtures is described in more detail here.
Effect of a qualified exemption
Products to which the proposed exemption applies would have a similar status to GBL and 1,4-BD under the present exemption from licensing requirements under regulation 4B of the 2001 and 2002 Regulations. They would remain controlled drugs but would be exempt from licensing requirements if they meet the criteria for exemption.
Under the present 4B exemption, the exemption would not apply if the product were for human ingestion, other than as a flavouring in food. This means that (for example) if a person possesses a product to which the exemption would otherwise apply, but with the intention of supplying it for ingestion, then the exemption would not apply, and the person would be liable to prosecution.
The exception “other than a flavouring in food” is an exception from the general rule that the substance must not be for ingestion. The remaining conditions of the exemption would have to apply. As food flavourings contain percentages of GBL that are far below those in the proposed exemption. In finished food products, the percentage of GBL will be much lower still.
HOWEVER. It is important to note that a manufacturer who makes a product that is exempt will nevertheless require a controlled drug licence if they use non-exempt GBL or 1,4-BD in manufacturing the product.
Note: The current UK legislation does not control esters and ethers of either GBL or 1,4-BD, these proposals do not aim to change this meaning esters and ethers of these substances would remain uncontrolled.
Responses to this consultation which runs from the 19 August 2026 to 11 November 2026 can be submitted to the Home Office here.
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