Letter from Baroness Williams to ACMD (accessible version)
Published 26 January 2021
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Professor Owen Bowden-Jones Chair
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs c/o 4th Floor
Peel Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
ACMD@homeoffice.gov.uk
By email only
26 January 2021
Dear Professor Owen Bowden-Jones,
Response to the ACMD’s advice on 2,4-Dinitrophenol
I am responding on behalf of the Security Minister who has taken a temporary leave of absence for curative surgery.
Thank you for your advice of 18 February 2019 on 2,4-Dinitrophenol (DNP), in which you set out the ACMD’s view that DNP is not a drug but a poison and recommended that the government work together with poisons experts to find a solution to DNP poisonings.
The government accepts this advice. The Home Office has worked with departments across Government to tackle the use of DNP. These include ensuring Border Force have renewed advice on identifying DNP imports, working with law enforcement partners to develop the intelligence picture on DNP facilitation, and working with online marketplaces to help them identify and remove DNP listings.
We aim to consult this year on possible amendments to the Poisons Act 1972, which will include adding DNP to the list of regulated poisons. This would mean that DNP could only be sold legitimately to a member of the public by a registered pharmacist, and then only to someone with a licence issued by the Home Office. There are very few legitimate uses for DNP, and therefore we envisage very few licences to be issued. In the interim, the Home Office will continue to support the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to raise awareness of the dangers of DNP.
Baroness Williams of Trafford