Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what negotiating position they are adopting at the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs on imminent proposals to restrict the supply and use of ketamine.

The Coalition Government does not believe that controlling ketamine internationally is appropriate. It could result in reduced access to a substance listed as an essential medicine by the World Health Organisation and widely used as an anaesthetic in low and middle income countries. We will be adopting this position at the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

However, we are determined to clamp down on the illegal misuse of ketamine, which leaves young people in the UK hospitalised with serious bladder and kidney damage every year.

To prevent its misuse, we have made ketamine a Class B drug and taken action to ensure its availability for health and veterinary care in the UK is properly regulated.