Correspondence

Government response to the ACMD work programme 2024

Updated 5 April 2024

Professor Owen Bowden-Jones,
Chair, Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD)
C/o 1st Floor, 
Peel Building  
2 Marsham Street  
London  
SW1P 4DF  

By email only ACMD@homeoffice.gov.uk.

5 April 2024

Dear Professor Bowden-Jones

Response to ACMD work programme for 2024

Thank you for meeting me on 20 February to discuss the ACMD’s work programme for 2024, which was published on 14 February. I am very grateful to the ACMD for expediting the reports on Acyl Piperazine Opioids, including 2-Methyl-AP-237; and Recently encountered uncontrolled novel benzodiazepines and related compounds (2024) update, published on 27 March and 28 March respectively, following my request at that meeting. The government will consider and respond to those reports in full, separately.

The government is making significant progress in delivering on its 10 Year Drug Strategy, ‘From Harm to Hope’. Key successes to date have included: increasing treatment places for people with drug dependence disorder; seizing significant volumes of illicit drugs and closing down sources of drugs supply while disrupting the activity of organised criminals; safeguarding children and vulnerable people exposed to exploitation via County Lines gangs; and addressing the demand for drugs through legislation to ban nitrous oxide.  The government has also invested in a rapid expansion of Drug Testing on Arrest to identify drug users who are suspected of committing other crimes and ensuring that they are referred to treatment or other forms of intervention.

At the core of the Drug Strategy is a commitment to a long-term approach, evolving and learning from the evidence and emerging threats over the 10-year period. Just over two years on from the launch of the Strategy, it is therefore timely to have discussed with you the government’s priorities for the ACMD work programme and how this supports delivery of the 10-year ambition.

I welcome the ACMD’s areas of focus, with an important set of reviews underway or planned, some of which have been commissioned by government and others self-commissioned. Your published work programme reflects government priorities set out in the Drug Strategy and in due course your recommendations from these reports will inform policy decisions on key drug threats facing the UK.

I am pleased to commend the ACMD work programme and acknowledge the important expertise of your members, which enables the quality and detail of advice the council provides.  In addition, I welcome the launch of the review of the harms of gabapentinoids and note that while concerns about addiction to pregabalin and gabapentin have been held for some years, recent data has emphasised the challenge of minimising harms from these widely prescribed medicines.

As discussed at our meeting, I should be grateful if the report on synthetic cathinones could be completed as soon as possible and published no later than this September. This is to enable earlier action, including legislation where appropriate, to address the threats from these compounds. This group of chemical compounds includes potent drugs which are being sold illegally under the street name ‘monkey dust’ and which are causing severe harms to those who consume them, as well as having highly detrimental effects on local communities, with crime and anti-social behaviour a blight on those areas. I am keen to ensure that advice from the ACMD informs next steps as a matter of urgency. This is part of a wider effort across government to recognise and respond to the threat of potent synthetic drugs.

I would also underline the value of the council’s insights into a number of other aspects of the drug problem facing the UK. This includes the drivers of powder cocaine use, especially among younger people, which Dame Carol Black pointed to in her reviews. It also encompasses the dynamics of internet-facilitated drugs supply, which is of continued concern, and further advice on approaches to prevention among children and young people, where we believe more can be done to educate young people and discourage them from taking risks which lead to a tragic loss of young lives each year.

As always, I am grateful for the breadth of work and expertise provided by the ACMD and thank you and the council members for your valued advice.

Yours sincerely,

Rt Hon Chris Philp MP, Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire