WIREDGOV

APCC statement given recently (15 January 2025) on government action to tackle synthetic drug.

The APCC’s Addictions and Substance Misuse leads have welcomed an amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act that creates a new, generic definition which not only captures a broader set of dangerous synthetic opioids making them illegal but also covers formulations of substances yet to be discovered. Due to the strength of an increasing number of the kinds of substances known as nitazenes, they are now classified as Class A, which covers the most hazardous illegal drugs.

The amendment, which recently (15 January 2025) came into force, is designed to help prevent deaths in the UK from these lethal substances and ensure anyone caught supplying them faces tough penalties.

APCC Addictions and Substance Misuse Leads, David Sidwick and Joy Allen, recently said:

“We welcome the Home Office’s action in banning further synthetic opioids to prevent drug-related deaths. The government will no longer be faced with having to react as new synthetic opioids emerge. Each new variant of these drugs causes serious health harms, with users at risk of overdosing as well as the contribution they make to drug-related criminal offending. Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are very aware of this growing problem and are deeply concerned by troubling reports of deaths in this country linked to these drugs. Although we aren’t seeing the terrible effects witnessed across the Atlantic, there is no room for complacency.

“As leaders of our local Combating Drugs Partnerships, we are encouraging our partners in public health to raise awareness of the threat these drugs pose. The recent increase in access to the counter-overdose antidote naloxone is helping to reverse the effects of an increasing number of opioid overdoses, preventing avoidable drug deaths, including those associated with new variations of synthetic drugs.

“We strongly advocated for the expansion of the use of naloxone across police forces but, as important as this is, we are clear we must do everything we can to prevent people using illegal drugs in the first place, and to get those who are using opioids into evidence-based treatment and on the road to recovery. That’s why PCCs are working closely with government and locally with partners to redouble our efforts to cut supply through robust enforcement, whilst improving the pathways from policing, probation, and prisons into the treatment services that can get people’s lives back on track. If we succeed in this, we also cut crime and reduce re-offending.”

Notes

• David Sidwick is APCC Joint Lead on Addiction and Substance Misuse, and PCC for Dorset
• Joy Allen is APCC Joint Lead on Addiction and Substance Misuse, and PCC for Durham