[Vocabulary] What is a "blanket ban"?

[Aamir Tariq]

What is a blanket ban?

I have taken these two headlines from the British newspaper "The Guardian".

Blanket ban on legal highs in England and Wales to begin on 26 May

Russia doping scandal/IOC delays decision on possible blanket ban for Rio Olympics

Regards,
Aamir the Global Citizen

 

[GoesStation]

It means a general, nonspecific prohibition.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

It means a general, nonspecific prohibition.

Do you mean by "nonspecific prohibition" it's a ban for an indefinite period of time where time is not specified?

 

[Aamir Tariq]

No. It's a ban on all highs, without specifying them by name (though, as it happens, it does specify a few that are not banned, for example tea, coffee, alcohol and nicotine).

Does "all highs" mean all the intoxicant substances? This is what I am also confused about.

 

[Raymott]

Can't you get a legal high from music, sex, riding a motorbike, etc. in England and Wales? Are they banned too?

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Can't you get a legal high from music, sex, riding a motorbike, etc. in England and Wales? Are they banned too?

Now, what is a "legal high"?

 

[emsr2d2]

A certain number of psychoactive substances used to be freely (legally) available in the UK. They were known as "legal highs" because it was recognised that they got you "high" in the same way as many illegal drugs but, for some reason, were legally sold. After some high-profile deaths from these substances, many of them were made illegal. It seems odd but there are now, theoretically, some "legal legal highs" and some "illegal legal highs"!

 

[Tdol]

Does "all highs" mean all the intoxicant substances? This is what I am also confused about.

In the UK, drugs normally have to be specifically banned- the legal default is that a chemical is legal unless banned. Legal highs are made by changing the chemical formula a tiny bit to stay ahead of the law- when a chemical is banned, they tweak the formula. A blanket ban covers all existing drugs and any they may come up with. They are trying to stop the chemists from changing a formula to avoid the law.