Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many new psychoactive substances have been identified by the Forensic Early Warning System in each of the last four years.

The number of new psychoactive substances, not previously encountered either in
the UK or at EU level, identified by the Home Office Forensic Early Warning
System (FEWS) from January 2011 until March 2014 is as follows :

January 2011- March 2012 -17
April 2012- March 2013 -10
April 2013- March 2014- 4

Further detailed analysis, results and other key findings are published in each
of the FEWS Annual Report available at: www.gov.uk. Analysis for 2014/15, with
reference to data held by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug
Addiction (EMCDDA), will be completed shortly.

Data from the EMCDDA is closely monitored. FEWS continues to identify and
monitor the existence of NPS in the UK through its various collection plans
including those substances first identified elsewhere in Europe and reported to
the EMCDDA.