Safe locations for drug consumption ought to be piloted in UK, MPs suggest

Safe areas for drug customers to take substances underneath medical supervision ought to be offered within the UK as a part of an overhaul of drug legal guidelines, MPs have concluded.

Although the Scottish authorities has been pushing for a so-called protected consumption facility to be arrange, efforts have been blocked by Westminster.

But the Home Affairs Committee has revealed a report recommending a pilot in Glasgow is supported by Westminster and collectively funded by each governments.

The committee mentioned if the UK authorities stays unwilling to assist the pilot then the ability to ascertain it ought to be devolved to the Scottish authorities.

The MPs beneficial pilots of such services – the place drug customers can take substances underneath medical supervision, with the purpose of stopping drug-related overdoses and different drug-related harms – in areas throughout the UK the place native authorities and others deem there’s a want.

Figures revealed final week revealed Scotland’s largest-ever fall in drug deaths, with knowledge from National Records of Scotland (NRS) exhibiting a complete of 1,051 deaths as a consequence of drug misuse in 2022, a drop of 279 on the earlier 12 months.

But whereas the variety of deaths linked to medication misuse is now the bottom it has been since 2017, the NRS report made clear the speed of deaths continues to be “much higher” than it was when recording the info started in 1996.

The committee report mentioned: “We recommend the government support a pilot in Glasgow by creating a legislative pathway under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 that enables such a facility to operate legally.”

MPs mentioned the pilot “must be evaluated in order to establish a reliable evidence base on the utility of a safe consumption facility in the UK”.

Responding to the advice, the federal government insisted “there is no safe way to take illegal drugs” they usually have “no plans to consider” the protected consumption facility suggestion.

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Report requires institution of nationwide drug checking service in England

The report additionally beneficial the Home Office and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) “jointly establish a national drug checking service in England to enable people to submit drug samples by post anonymously”.

Additionally, the MPs mentioned on-site drug-checking providers at momentary occasions like music festivals and inside the night-time economic system ought to be rolled out, recommending the Home Office “establish a dedicated licensing scheme for drug checking at such events before the start of the summer 2024 festival season”.

MPs welcome discount of limitations to researching psychedelics

The report acknowledged the present classifications of managed substances ought to be reviewed by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to make sure they precisely replicate the danger of hurt, with additional opinions each 10 years.

MPs welcomed the UK authorities’s “commitment to reducing barriers to researching psychedelic drugs” and beneficial they’re “urgently” reclassified “in order to facilitate research on the medical or therapeutic value of these drugs”.

The committee additionally mentioned each the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 require reform.

“We recommend that the UK government reform the 1971 Act and 2001 Regulations in a way that promotes a greater role for public health in our response to drugs, whilst maintaining our law enforcement to tackling the illicit production and supply of controlled drugs,” it mentioned.