Asked by: Crispin Blunt (Independent - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has for consultation in advance of its forthcoming long term drug strategy.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government published its initial response to Dame Carol Black’s independent review of drugs on 27 July, and the upcoming drug strategy will set out our more detailed response to the review’s recommendations. It will present our whole-of-government approach to combating drug misuse by supporting people through treatment and recovery and driving down drug supply and demand.
We are continuing to engage with external experts across a wide range of sectors in order to shape the approach and interventions set out in the strategy, building on the research undertaken as part of the independent review. Dame Carol is also working with the Government on the development and delivery of the strategy in her new role as an independent advisor.
Asked by: Crispin Blunt (Independent - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Crime and Policing of 17 June 2021, Official Report, Column 531, on the Misuse of Drugs Act, what criteria her Department has applied or plans to apply when making an assessment as to whether psilocybin has a proven clinical and medical use for the purposes of determining whether to adapt the relevant legislation.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
There is an established process for the development of medicines, which enables medicines (including those containing Schedule 1 drugs such as psilocybin) to be developed, evaluated in clinical trials and licensed based on an assessment of their safety, quality and efficacy.
The Government recognises that a number of studies into the potential use of psilocybin as part of the treatment for mental health conditions have been or are being conducted in the UK. However, medicines based on psilocybin have not yet been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) which would address safety, quality and efficacy concerns. If a psilocybin-based medicine is made available following an assessment of its quality, safety and efficacy by the MHRA, the Home Office will seek and then consider advice provided by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) on its scheduling under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 as soon as possible. Such advice is a statutory requirement and will be considered before any decision is taken on scheduling under the 2001 Regulations.
Asked by: Crispin Blunt (Independent - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2021 to Question 7725, on Psilocybin: Health Hazards, for what reason her Department has not commissioned a review into the scheduling status of psilocybin in the context of no recent analysis of the evidence for that drug's harm having been commissioned or published by the Government to support the compound being a Class A and a Schedule 1 drug and recent evidence of that drug's clinical and experimental potential.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
There is an established process for the development of medicines, which enables medicines (including those containing Schedule 1 drugs such as psilocybin) to be developed, evaluated in clinical trials and licensed based on an assessment of their safety, quality and efficacy.
The Government recognises that a number of studies into the potential use of psilocybin as part of the treatment for mental health conditions have been or are being conducted in the UK. However, medicines based on psilocybin have not yet been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) which would address safety, quality and efficacy concerns. Ministers could seek advice from the ACMD about the rescheduling of psilocybin-based products on the basis of evidence of the therapeutic use of unlicensed medicines, but we would ordinarily do this only in consultation with the Department for Health and Social Care and the MHRA.
The MHRA continues to support the safe and scientifically sound conduct of trials in this area and also to provide regulatory and scientific advice to companies at all stages of developing medicines. Should a company apply for a marketing authorisation (a product licence), it will ultimately be a decision for the MHRA whether to license a psilocybin-based medicine as a therapy.
If a psilocybin-based medicine is made available following an assessment of its quality, safety and efficacy by the MHRA, the Home Office will seek and then consider advice provided by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) on its scheduling under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 as soon as possible. Such advice is a statutory requirement and will be considered before any decision is taken on scheduling under the 2001 Regulations.
Asked by: Crispin Blunt (Independent - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the evidential basis is for cannabis-based products for medical use to be placed alongside fentanyl and diamorphine in Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of placing such products in lower schedule such as Schedule 4.1 alongside Sativex.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
In February 2019, the then Home Secretary commissioned the ACMD to conduct a longer-term review of Cannabis-Based Products for Medicinal use (CBPM). The ACMD published their report on 27 November 2020 on gov.uk. In it they recommended:
“that the scheduling of CBPMs under Schedule 2 of the MDR remains appropriate and that no further legislative amendments to the MDR regarding CBPMs are required at this point in time.”
Unlike Sativex, most CBPM do not have a marketing authorisation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). As such, in the absence of the reassurance that a CBPM has gone through the safety, quality and efficacy process established by the MHRA, it is right that it is in Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. However, should a cannabis-based medicine receive a marketing authorisation from the MHRA, the Government will commission the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to reconsider the scheduling of the product under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. This was the case for Sativex following its marketing authorisation.
Asked by: Crispin Blunt (Independent - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2021 to Question 5143, what evidence demonstrates that the arrests made have included high-level actors in the trafficking of controlled drugs; and how many of those arrested or charged in relation to Operation VENETIC have been convicted.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The NCA reports that data derived from Operation VENETIC has, to date, led to over 2,300 people being arrested, over 1000 charged and 162 individuals convicted of a range of serious offences. These include well publicised cases of individuals involved in drug trafficking, like Thomas Maher, described by the judge at his trial as “an extremely important cog in the wheel of a sophisticated network”. A large number of cases linked to Operation VENETIC are progressing through the criminal justice system and it would be inappropriate to comment further on these at this time. The NCA regularly publishes the outcomes of investigations via press notices on its website.
Asked by: Crispin Blunt (Independent - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2020 to Question 11461 on Drugs: Misuse, for what reason the crimes referred to in that Answer that would be associated with a medically supervised drug consumption clinic do not apply to (a) needle and syringe programmes for injecting drug users and (b) other programmes and services that engage those users.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Needle and syringe programmes and other programmes and services that engage drug users do not involve the organiser condoning and facilitating consumption of controlled drugs on the premises, nor do they create spaces where police enforcement of the law in relation to drug possession and supply is compromised.
Drug Consumption Rooms would not be lawful in the UK due to the offences which would be committed in the course of running such a facility.
Asked by: Crispin Blunt (Independent - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2020 to Question 11461, whether her Department has received written legal opinion on the provisions in law that would be engaged by the operation of medically supervised Drug Consumption Clinics.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Needle and syringe programmes and other programmes and services that engage drug users do not involve the organiser condoning and facilitating consumption of controlled drugs on the premises, nor do they create spaces where police enforcement of the law in relation to drug possession and supply is compromised.
Drug Consumption Rooms would not be lawful in the UK due to the offences which would be committed in the course of running such a facility.
Asked by: Crispin Blunt (Independent - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2021 to Question 14126 and with reference to the findings of the Dame Carol Black review of drugs: phase one report, what assessment has been made of the effect of county line closures and drugs seized on (a) drug availability or rates of drug use, (b) potency, (c) price and (d) new trends including local recruitment of children and children being missing for longer periods in adaption to police activity and covid-19; what Government national leadership and oversight on the implementation of a public health approaches to youth violence has taken place; how the Department for Education is involved with that oversight; what assessment she has made of the ethical implications of state use of children to be used as a covert human intelligence source as detailed in The Covert Human Intelligence Sources Bill; and whether a Child Rights impact assessment has been undertaken in relation to that proposed policy.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
In May 2021, the National County Lines Coordination Centre published the latest County Lines strategic assessment. The assessment found that county lines continue to be at the forefront of drug supply nationally and have evolved in response to environmental changes.
The county lines business model remains heavily weighted towards the supply of heroin and crack cocaine. NCLCC’s latest assessment indicates that there has been a reduction in the total number of potentially active deal lines, with numbers reported to have fallen from between 800-1,100 in 2019/20 to 600 in 2020/21.
We continue to work with partners to address the underlying drivers of exploitation and ensure support and protection is in place for children exploited through county lines criminality. We have funded specialist support for victims of county lines exploitation to deliver one-to-one support to under 25s and their families in the three largest county lines exporting force areas
This Government is also delivering a range of initiatives to tackle youth violence including investing over £105.5 million in Violence Reduction Units from 2019 to 2022. The Home Office works closely with the Department for Education to tackle youth violence.
We will continue to use data on rates of drug use to monitor trends and inform the Government’s approach to addressing drugs and drug harms.
The Government acknowledges the strength of feeling on juvenile CHIS, however, we must recognise that some juveniles are involved in serious crimes, as perpetrators and victims. In some circumstances a young person may have unique access to information or intelligence that could play a vital part in preventing or detecting serious offences.
Young people are only authorised as CHIS in rare circumstances. Between January 2015 and December 2018, there were only 17 instances where law enforcement bodies deployed those under 18 years old as CHIS, and their participation in criminal conduct is rarer still.
The Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Act 2021 includes a commitment on the face of the legislation that young people will only be authorised to undertake criminal conduct in exceptional circumstances.
Asked by: Crispin Blunt (Independent - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2021 to Question 14127, on Drugs: Misuse, what criterion the Home Office Accounting Officer uses to assess the value for money of her Department's drugs misuse programmes.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
All major investments and proposals for funding go through economic appraisal which is conducted in line with Green Book guidance. This is guidance issued by HM Treasury on how to appraise policies, programmes and projects, as well as the design and use of monitoring and evaluation throughout implementation. For major Home Office investments these appraisals are reviewed by the Finance and Investment Committee (FIC) which involves sign off by the Home Office Chief Analyst/HOAI Director. Where relevant evaluations already exist these are used, as well as existing management information, to form the basis of economic appraisal for new investments.
Programmes being delivered as part of the Government’s whole-system response to tackling drug misuse, including investment to disrupt drug supply and county lines, drug treatment and Project ADDER (Addiction, Disruption, Diversion, Enforcement and Recovery) have been subject to this approach. We will continue to monitor and evaluate our drug misuse programmes across Government to learn what is most effective and inform future spending decisions.
Asked by: Crispin Blunt (Independent - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2021 to Question 11460, if she will ask the ACMD to advise whether alcohol and tobacco should be controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971; and for what reasons her Department makes a distinction between alcohol and tobacco and controlled drugs when there is no provision in the MDA that specifically excludes legally regulated drugs such as alcohol and tobacco.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We have no plans to control alcohol or tobacco under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and no plans to commission advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) on this matter. Parliament considered arguments about their inclusion at the time of the Bill’s passage, including the reasons for the distinction between them and controlled drugs. Alcohol is regulated under the Licensing Act 2003 in England and Wales and tobacco is regulated under The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.