A government minister said that there would be a review of psychoactive substances ('legal highs'), with a view to introducing legislation to enhance legal enforcement.
Source: , Written Ministerial Statement 12 December 2013, columns 57-58WS, House of Commons Hansard, TSO
Links: Hansard | Terms of reference
Date: 2013-Dec
A report by a committee of MPs said that the government should not proceed with plans to control khat under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The committee recommended the introduction of a licensing scheme for importers of the plant.
Source: Khat, Eleventh Report (Session 2013–14), HC 869, House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2013-Nov
A briefing paper examined the ongoing debate on drugs policy in the context of the two reports: the report of the Home Affairs Select Committee on drugs policy (HC 184, session 2012 13); and the report of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform, published in January 2013.
Source: Debate on 17 October: Drugs policy, Library Note LLN 2013/026, House of Lords Library
Links: Briefing paper
Date: 2013-Oct
A study examined who was affected by police and court enforcement of drugs laws in England and Wales. The study analyzed a range of data regarding stop and search, arrest, prosecution, and sentencing. It said that the policing and prosecution of drug possession offences was unduly focused on black and minority-ethnic communities.
Source: Niamh Eastwood, Michael Shiner, and Daniel Bear, The Numbers in Black and White: Ethnic disparities in the policing and prosecution of drug offences in England and Wales, Release
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Oct
A think-tank report examined the problem of substance abuse and addiction. It said that substance abuse was a pathway to poverty, family breakdown, child neglect, homelessness, crime, debt, and long-term worklessness. It highlighted the system's lack of ambition to tackle alcohol abuse: whereas two-thirds of drug addicts in England got treatment, only a small minority (approximately 7 per cent) of people dependent on alcohol got similar help. Furthermore, by withdrawing its plans for a minimum unit price, the coalition government had missed an opportunity to tackle the increased availability of super-cheap, strong alcohol. A better approach than minimum unit pricing would have been a treatment tax, which – unlike a minimum unit price – would have meant that the proceeds went to the taxpayer rather than boosting retailers' profits. The report also criticized a failure to offer heroin addicts effective treatment: most local councils in England had cut funding for residential treatment since the coalition government took power – despite the fact that the Prime Minister had previously argued in favour of more residential programmes and against the continual use of methadone.
Source: No Quick Fix: Exposing the depth of Britain s drug and alcohol problem, Centre for Social Justice
Links: Report | CSJ press release | BBC report | Daily Mail report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Sep
A report said that legalizing and taxing cannabis could be worth as much as £1.25 billion per year to the government. Reduced enforcement costs – such as police, court, and prison time and community sentences – could save £300 million or more, with the remaining net benefit coming from extra tax revenue.
Source: Mark Bryan, Emilia Del Bono, and Stephen Pudney, Licensing and Regulation of the Cannabis Market in England and Wales: Towards a cost-benefit analysis, Institute for Social and Economic Research (University of Essex)
Links: Report | ISER press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Sep
A report said that Black people in England and Wales were significantly more likely to be searched by the police for drugs than their white peers, and also faced almost double the chance of being charged if any were found.
Source: Niamh Eastwood, Michael Shiner, and Daniel Bear, The Numbers in Black and White: Ethnic disparities in the policing and prosecution of drug offences in England and Wales, Release
Links: Report | Release press release | ACPO press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined demographic risk factors and trends from 1998 to 2009 for concurrent multiple substance use in adolescence in England. All forms of substance use were found to be strongly related. The prevalence of multiple substance use decreased significantly across time in line with decreases in individual substance use. The prevalence of individual and multiple substance use across years was higher among white young people. Males were more likely to engage in risky drinking behaviour. Females were more likely to smoke regularly, but were at increased risk for multiple substance use. Deprivation was unrelated to drinking behaviour: but it was associated with increases in smoking and illicit drug use, and all forms of multiple substance use.
Source: Daniel Hale, Research Associate, and Russell Viner, 'Trends in the prevalence of multiple substance use in adolescents in England, 1998-2009', Journal of Public Health, Volume 35 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
A paper examined the concept of drug-related crime, and reviewed methods for estimating its volume. It constructed new estimates for England and Wales for the period 2003-2006. The volume of drug-induced acquisitive crime linked to heroin use was high: but there was no significant evidence of violent crime linked directly to heroin use. There was 'no evidence at all' of any drug-induced crime committed by people who used cannabis (but not heroin or cocaine). There was evidence that supplying cannabis led to a small volume of crime.
Source: Mark Bryan, Emilia Del Bono, and Stephen Pudney, Drug-Related Crime, Working Paper 2013-08, Institute for Social and Economic Research (University of Essex)
Links: Working paper | Abstract
Date: 2013-Jul
An article examined the impact of the 2003 Criminal Justice Act, which replaced a range of non-custodial penalties with a single community order, on drug misusers. Under the new legislation courts had significantly fewer options available when responding to incidents of offender non-compliance, with a disproportionate impact on those groups whose lifestyles were chaotic and whose routines were incompatible with the terms and conditions of modern probation practice. Greater flexibility towards non-compliance, supported by regular and consistent judicial review, would encourage improved rates of compliance and retention in treatment and improved outcomes for offenders.
Source: Paul Sparrow and Gill McIvor, 'Sentencing drug offenders under the 2003 Criminal Justice Act: challenges for the probation service', Criminology and Criminal Justice, Volume 13 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jun
An article critically examined claims that criminal justice had displaced health from its formerly dominant position in relation to drug policy. It said that there was evidence of both continuity and change. What others had attributed to 'criminalization' in fact reflected broader changes in the nature of criminal justice itself. The transformation of 'penal-welfarism' helped to explain the development of more punitive and coercive forms of drug control: but this was only part of the story. There was considerable continuity in relation to the importance of drug treatment and harm reduction.
Source: Michael Shiner, 'British drug policy and the modern state: reconsidering the criminalisation thesis', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 42 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-May
An article examined how politicians viewed the drugs problem, and the relative influence on them of values and evidence. Politicians rarely challenged the dominant media narratives in relation to drugs. Many saw drugs as a 'toxic' issue, one best avoided. When drugs had appeared on the political agenda, the issue had been used as a weapon in a political game. Scientific evidence and calm appraisal had been subordinated to electoral concerns.
Source: Susanne MacGregor, 'Barriers to the influence of evidence on policy: are politicians the problem?', Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy, Volume 20 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-May
An article examined evolving Conservative Party policies on drugs misuse, and whether the strategy lived up to its stated aim to follow evidence-based policies. The policies were found to contain a mixture of: laudable aims; vague and sometimes contradictory statements; proposals that were unsupported, and sometimes contradicted, by evidence; and goals that were often at risk of being undermined by a wider policy agenda that threatened to marginalize people with drug problems still further.
Source: John Watson, 'The good, the bad and the vague: assessing emerging Conservative drug policy', Critical Social Policy, Volume 33 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Apr
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on drug addiction. It rejected calls for a Royal Commission on the issue, and said that there were 'promising signs' that its existing strategy was working.
Source: Drugs: Breaking the Cycle – The Government Response to the Ninth Report, Cm 8567, Home Office, TSO
Links: Response
Notes: MPs report (December 2012)
Date: 2013-Mar
A report by an all-party group of MPs and peers said that the possession and use of all illegal drugs should be decriminalized, with the least harmful ones regulated and sold in licensed shops with labels detailing risks. Criminal sanctions did not combat drug addiction, and only succeeded in marginalizing users.
Source: Towards a Safer Drug Policy: Challenges and opportunities arising from legal highs , All-Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform
Links: Report | APPG press release | BBC report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Jan