Letter accompanying call for evidence on drivers of powder cocaine use in young people and adults
Updated 30 August 2023
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ACMD Chair: Professor Owen Bowden-Jones
ACMD Secretary: Alasdair Forrest
1st Floor (NE), Peel Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
26 July 2023
Dear Sir or Madam,
Call for evidence – drivers of powder cocaine use in young people and adults
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) is collecting written evidence to better understand the drivers (encouraging factors) of powder cocaine use among young people and adults. The aim is to assess the evidence to determine effective interventions / policies to reduce demand and address physical, psychological and social harms from powder cocaine use.
On 12 March 2015, the ACMD published a major report on powdered cocaine and its impact on British society. [footnote 1] This report was a wide-ranging look at the evidence of use, harms, and public health implications of cocaine use.
On 27 February 2020, the Dame Carol Black independent ‘Review of drugs: phase 1 report’ was published. [footnote 2] This was a government commissioned review of the main drug problems in the UK, and recommended policy solutions. The report identified that prevalence of powder cocaine use has further increased since the ACMD’s 2015 report, specifically driven by an increase of white male users under the age of 30.
On 6 August 2020, the Home Secretary wrote to the chair of the ACMD to outline the government’s priorities for the ACMD work programme for the following 3 years. [footnote 3] In response to the findings of the Dame Carol Black review, the highest priority work outlined was understanding the drivers of powder cocaine use in young people. The Home Secretary requested the ACMD to focus work specifically on the following two questions:
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Why do some young people start using powder cocaine, and why do some of those continue to use it into adulthood?
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How could we use this insight to prevent young people using powder cocaine for the first time, and divert them from ongoing use?
Following initial discussions around this work, the scope was expanded to additionally investigate the drivers of cocaine use in adult populations.
We would be grateful for your written feedback in the attached questionnaire as part of this call for evidence by 2 October 2023.
We would welcome submissions of evidence from as broad a spectrum of participants as possible, however particularly local authorities, community and voluntary sector stakeholders, police services and legal professionals. We would therefore be grateful if you could please circulate this call for evidence to other colleagues and relevant stakeholders. We will be using your feedback to assist in formulating advice to government.
Yours sincerely,
[signed]
Professor Owen Bowden-Jones
Chair of the ACMD
[signed]
Professor Anne Campbell
ACMD Drivers of Cocaine Use Working Group Chair