Benzodiazepines

(asked on 17th April 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to prevent addiction to Xanax.


Answered by
Steve Brine Portrait
Steve Brine
This question was answered on 25th April 2018

Local authorities (LAs) are responsible for assessing the need for drug prevention and treatment services in their area and commissioning services to meet that need. Public Health England (PHE) is currently working across Government and with expert networks and other groups to gather information following recent reports about rises in alprazolam (Xanax) use among young people and that benzodiazepines (including alprazolam) are also used in some parts of the country by adults who already misuse other drugs.

PHE also works with LAs, providing data, advice and other bespoke support for the needs assessment and commissioning process.

The Government’s drug strategy, published in July 2017, sets out a balanced approach which brings together police, health, community and global partners to tackle the illicit drug trade, protect the most vulnerable and help those with a drug dependency to recover and turn their lives around. Further information is available here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/628148/Drug_strategy_2017.PDF

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