Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure that synthetic drug users receive the correct care.

We are committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug dependency can access the help and support they need. For those using opiates, treatment is the safest place to be. The Government is investing an additional £780 million over the three years to 2024/25, the largest ever single increase in treatment and recovery funding in England, to create a world-class treatment and recovery system. We are investing £532 million to improve drug and alcohol treatment, and recovery services specifically. This funding is in addition to the Public Health Grant, and will grow the capacity and quality of the drug treatment system.

We are working with an expert clinical group to review the treatment for opioid dependence, including synthetic opioids. However, the current view is that whether or not drugs are synthetic is unlikely to affect the treatment and care that is appropriate.