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Reform organisations respond to new UK drug strategy

The UK Government has announced a decade long drug strategy that will see an increased focus on rehabilitation for drug users.

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2 years ago

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Reform organisations respond to new UK drug strategy

The new UK drug strategy is aiming to reduce drug-related crime through the largest ever increase in funding. However, the strategy will also be imposing tougher consequences – including curfews and the removal of passports and drivers licences. 

The UK’s new drug strategy will inject a record £780m into rebuilding the drug treatment system as part of a plan to combat drug and alcohol misuse. The UK Government has stated that the strategy is designed to cut crime and reduce both the supply and demand for drugs by getting more people into treatment.

See also  Novel MDMA-like chemical series to be developed to treat addiction

The plan will invest £15m over three years for drug testing on arrest, £5m toward an innovation fund, and £9m towards the new “Tough Consequences” out of court disposals scheme. This scheme will see civil penalties imposed, such as fines, curfews, and the temporary removal of driving licences or passports.

The response to the announcement has been mixed – with positive responses to the plans regarding support for drug users, but concerns regarding the suggestion to remove passports and driving licences. 

UK non-profit drugs advisory committee, Drug Science, previously submitted evidence for the Dame Carol Black review on addiction treatment services which helped to shape the new strategy. The organisation responded to the plan, stating that it welcomes the Government accepting aspects of the review.

Speaking to Psychedelic Health, David Badcock, chief executive of Drug Science, commented: “We’re encouraged that the government recognises the importance of well-funded addiction treatment. That’s long overdue. But what this strategy doesn’t do is address the most fundamental issue of all.

“Quite simply, if we continue to only view drugs through a lens of ‘criminality’ we’ll get nowhere. Successive drug strategies have failed users and taxpayers for precisely this reason, and problems have become even more entrenched.

See also  Majority in favour of changing law to boost psilocybin research in UK

“So we urge the government to change its approach completely, and to adopt a rational, evidence-based approach of drug control. Stigmatising users helps nobody. Misinformation about the real harms of substances helps nobody. And what we need, instead, is drug policy based on healthcare, empathy and facts.

“It’s also vital that we remove the stigma of certain drugs for medical research purposes. Drugs like psilocybin could prove to be hugely beneficial for all kinds of therapeutic reasons. But if we continue to view these substances as inherently evil, dangerous or criminal – then we will never get to the truth.”

In its published response, Drug Science stated: “The major positive outcome appears to be a focus on the use of treatments rather than punishments to reduce drug use and harms. This suggests the government has at last caught up with the scientific community in understanding that addiction is a medical rather than a criminal issue and that criminalising drug users [as opposed to drug dealers] only perpetuates a cycle of use that drives more into drug dealing and hence more drug users.”

However, the organisation believes that abstinence-only approaches are worrying, as for most people “this approach comes with a greatly increased risk of death from accidental overdose when they relapse. So other policies must be pursued in parallel.”

See also  UK continues to delay on psilocybin rescheduling

Three of these parallel policies Drug Science has highlighted include: investment into research for new treatments to promote abstinence; the development and provision of new approaches to treatment; and, encouraging pilot programmes for safe injecting rooms which are proven to save lives.

The organisation gives psilocybin as an example as an alternative approach to treatment for tobacco and alcohol addiction, and MDMA or ketamine as an example for alcoholism. 

Drug Science stated: “Trials in opioid and cocaine addiction are now a priority and given the UK leads the world in this research, psychedelic addiction treatment studies should be commissioned here asap. Also as the controlled status of these drugs makes research unnecessarily complicated and difficult these should be rectified as recommended by Drug Science and the CDPRG.”

Read the full statement from Drug Science.

The Green Party Drug Policy Working Group has also responded to the announcement, stating is “both astonished and extremely concerned by the government’s new 10 year plan aimed at dealing with drug use in our society.”

It states: “We support the reinstatement of (some) funding for medical interventions for problematic drug use and the focus on public health – and would like to see these commitments go further.

“However, many of the initiatives listed are against evidence and will cause harm. Stigmatising a mythical corrupt middle-class drug user ignores the scientific evidence and goes against the principle of harm reduction.

“Proposals to remove passports and driving licenses from class A drug users are unevidenced and divisive; a show of ‘tough on drugs’ political theatre. We know from years of the failed “war of drugs” that criminalising drug use does not reduce use or improve health and wellbeing outcomes.”

See also  Psychoactive compound to be evaluated as addiction treatment

As part of the strategy, £300m will also be invested to crack down on illicit supply chains and criminal gangs profiting from the trade in unlicensed drugs, using funding to try and breakup county lines, which see the exploitation of young children across the country.

Drug policy reform group, Volteface, commented: “There is some slight confusion that Dame Black famously remarked that we cannot police our way out of the drugs crisis. 

“It is therefore dumbfounding as to why the government has placed such an emphasis on crime and policing. If the government wants to be tough on county lines, then it must address the conditions that enable young people (mostly boys) to fall into exploitation. 

“There must be a bigger focus on drug education and surrounding measures like reopening youth clubs and giving kids a better opportunity. It is no surprise that the bulk of those being exploited are from poorer backgrounds, and often have difficult family lives. The key benefit to the strategy is the emphasis on diversion, even if the government has decided to refer to such measures as “tough consequences”.”

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Policy

Now is the time for psychedelic access, says campaigner

Published

2 weeks ago

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21st November 2023

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Now is the time for psychedelic access, says campaigner

Activists in Oakland recently filed a ballot put forward by Dave Hodges seeking to legalise safe and legal access to psychedelics for therapeutic uses. 

In the face of critics, Hodges has said now is the time for safe access to psychedelics.

The Psychedelic Wellness & Healing Initiative would enable the sale, possession and use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes if passed. Psychedelics that would be allowed under the ballot include Psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, and Mescaline.

If passed, the initiative would give doctors and mental health specialists the right to recommend psychedelics to ease the debilitating symptoms of a range of problems, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, addiction, suicidality and traumatic brain injury (TBI), among others.

Hodges has said: “Now is the time for safe, controlled medical access for patients in need. The way to solve the problem is not by continuing to ignore it.” 

Hodges’ solution is to create a structure for use that includes proper dosages and access to experts who can help users benefit from appropriate treatment.

The updated initiative language emphasises safety, and gives doctors and mental health specialists the right to recommend psychedelics to ease the debilitating symptoms of a range of conditions.

Research by the University of Michigan and Columbia University shows non-LSD hallucinogenic use on the rise and Hodges has stated that increase means that the initiative providing guidelines for use is needed more than ever. 

Hodges said he hopes Californians will read the initiative, share their thoughts about it over the holiday week and offer feedback via the initiative website, PW4CA.com, by 27 November, 2023, the deadline for modifications.

“Now is the time to provide medical and therapeutic access to psychedelics,” Hodges said. “The way to do this is through the initiative.”

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Policy

Transform Drugs releases groundbreaking book: How to regulate psychedelics

Published

3 weeks ago

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15th November 2023

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Transform Drugs releases book: How to regulate psychedelics

UK charity Transform Drug Policy Foundation has published a new book ‘How to Regulate Psychedelics: A Practical Guide’ that sets out how psychedelics can be legalised and regulated for non-medical adult use.

While an increasing amount of research is pointing to the potentially beneficial effects of psychedelic treatment on mental health conditions, many people across the globe are using psychedelics outside of the clinical setting.

The book includes a set of proposals for post-prohibition policies, covering psychedelics including psilocybin, LSD, DMT and Mescaline. 

Previously, Transform’s guides on regulating stimulants and cannabis have been used to advise governments around the world on drug policy. This book seeks to inform the debates on psychedelic drug reforms taking place across the world.

Co-author and Public Affairs and Policy Manager at Transform Drug Policy Foundation, Ester Kincová, stated: “Despite psychedelic drugs being illegal, their non-medical use within society has been steadily increasing. 

“Punitive enforcement has not decreased use or eliminated supply, but it has made use more unsafe. 

“Legalising and regulating psychedelics is a pragmatic move to reduce harm. This is no longer a theoretical debate, states in the US are already recognising the need and  making moves to regulate for non-medical adult use.”

Scientific Chair of Drug Science, Professor David Nutt, added: “Once again Transform have come up with a well thought out and practical plan for the regulation of another group of currently illegal drugs – in this case psychedelics. 

“Their ideas would be both easy to implement and to engage with and will, if adopted, radically enhance the safe use of these remarkable agents.”

Proposals for regulation

The book includes a four-tiered regulation model “that attempts to manage the variety of psychedelic preparations and the different ways in which they are used”.

These include:

  • Private use, home cultivation, foraging and not-for-profit sharing.
  • Membership-based non-for-profit associations for plant-based products.
  • Licensed production and retail adaptable to different products and environments
  • Regulated commercial guided or supervised use

Additionally, a decriminalisation model is proposed which suggests that possession for personal use should no longer be an offence of any kind or be subject to any sanctions; Drugs for personal use should not be confiscated; cultivation of small amounts of plant-based drugs for personal use should be decriminalised, among other suggestions.

The book also includes topics such as embedding social justice, equity and human rights into policy design, how to think about psychedelics regulation, why regulate psychedelics and why now, and psychedelics and the UN drug treaties.

To read the book, please visit transformdrugs.org/.

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Policy

Oakland ballot seeks to legalise medical psychedelics

Published

1 month ago

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30th October 2023

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Oakland ballot seeks to legalise medical psychedelics

Activists in Oakland have filed a ballot that seeks to legalise safe and legal access to psychedelics for therapeutic uses. 

The Psychedelic Wellness & Healing Initiative would enable the sale, possession and use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes if passed. Psychedelics that would be allowed under the ballot include Psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, and Mescaline.

If passed, the initiative would give doctors and mental health specialists the right to recommend psychedelics to ease the debilitating symptoms of a range of problems, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, addiction, suicidality and traumatic brain injury (TBI), among others.

See also  Australia reschedules psilocybin and MDMA

Additionally, it would create a statewide framework for regulating the possession, use, cultivation and production of substances for medical and therapeutic use.

The initiative has been introduced by proponent and founder of the Oakland-based Church of Ambrosia, Dave Hodges, to the California Attorney General’s office for the 2024 ballot, and will need 546,651 valid signatures to qualify.

See also  CDPRG discusses the UK's Reschedule Psilocybin campaign

The filing follows California Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent veto of Senate Bill 58, the bill that sought to decriminalise the use of certain psychedelic drugs. 

Hodges emphasised that SB58 would have been a step forward, but that it had major flaws concerning its lack of provisions to ensure access, public safety and quality control. That veto, Hodges said, compelled him to move quickly on the initiative filing.

When the California Attorney General certifies the initiative for circulation, backers will have about four and a half months to gather the required signatures for ballot placement. 

Signature collecting will begin in early December.

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