Correspondence

Advice on the appropriate classification and scheduling of Brorphine and Metonitazene (accessible)

Published 15 June 2022

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

The Rt Hon Kit Malthouse MP
Minister of State for Crime, Policing
and Probation
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

www.gov.uk/home-office

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

By email only ACMD@homeoffice.gov.uk

15 June 2022

Advice on the appropriate classification and scheduling of Brorphine and Metonitazene under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and associated regulations

The 65th Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) meeting took place between 14-18 March 2022. As you are aware, the CND is mandated to decide on the scope of control of substances under three international Drug Control Conventions^{[footnote 1]}. As set out below, this year six substances were added to the relevant schedules of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 and added to the tables of the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988.

Added to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol:

1. Brorphine (Schedule I)

2. Metonitazene (Schedule I)

Added to the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971:

3. Eutylone (Schedule II)

Added in the tables of the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988:

4. 4-AP

5. 1-boc-4-AP

6. Norfentanyl

Eutylone is currently listed as a Class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and listed under Schedule 1 to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, therefore no further action is required at this stage. Additionally, three of these substances (4-AP, 1-boc-4-AP and Norfentanyl) are considered Drug Precursor Chemicals (DPC) and we intend to discuss the matter of DPCs with the ACMD in due course.

However, two of the substances Brorphine and Metonitazene need further consideration for control under UK domestic legislation. These are both synthetic opioids, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) have examined in their October 2021 reports^{[footnote 2]}. These reports, which are published online, provide some further detail on when these substances have been identified, the harm that they cause, their effects and similarities to other controlled synthetic opioids.

I would be grateful if the ACMD could provide advice on the appropriate domestic controls for these two substances under the 1971 Act, the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 and, where appropriate, the Misuse of Drugs (Designation) Order 2015, taking into account that in order to comply with our international obligations the outcome of the CND vote requires increased domestic control of these substances:

1. Brorphine

2. Metonitazene

As always, I am extremely grateful for the continued advice provided by the ACMD and more specifically the NPS Committee in considering the control of new substances under our domestic legislation.

Kit Malthouse MP

1. the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol; the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971; and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. ↩

2. Brorphine: critical review report (unedited advance copy) and Metonitazene: critical review report (unedited advance copy). ↩