Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on reducing Class A drug use among young people.

There has been a long term downward trend in overall drug use over the last decade including among young people aged 11-15 and young adults aged 16-24. However, we continue to be concerned about the harms caused by drug misuse, including ecstasy and other Class A drugs, which is why they are illegal.

The UK’s approach on drugs remains clear: we must prevent drug use in our communities, help dependent individuals recover, while ensuring our drugs laws are enforced. We have recently refreshed our approach to reducing the demand for drugs which includes investing in a range of evidence-based programmes, which have a positive impact on young people and adults, giving them the confidence, resilience and risk management skills to resist drug use.

For example: • we have launched a new online resilience building resource, ‘Rise Above’, aimed at 11- to 16-year-olds, which provides tools to help develop skills to make positive choices for their health, including avoiding drug use;

• we have developed evidence-based online tools for educators and commissioners including the Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention Information Service (ADEPIS) which provides practical advice and tools based on the best international evidence, including briefing sheets for teachers; and

• Public Health England has developed its role in supporting local areas: sharing evidence to support commissioning and the delivery of effective public health prevention activities; and launching toolkits to support local areas’ responses on specific issues around new psychoactive substances and other drug groups.