Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the NHS of the use of illegal drugs.

Dame Carol Black’s review of evidence related to drugs, published in February 2020, estimated the cost to the National Health Service of illegal drug use at £431 million per annum. This includes admissions in secondary care, prison treatment and infectious disease. However, this figure does not include other NHS costs such as primary care or accident and emergency usage so will be an underestimate.