Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has any plans to introduce legislative proposals to criminalise the legal high known as gocaine.

I refer to the Written Ministerial Statement of 12 December 2013, Official Report, column 58WS, in which I announced that the Coalition Government would conduct a review into new psychoactive substances led by a panel of experts. I have now considered the expert panel’s report on the review. The Government will respond to the expert panel’s report and its recommendations shortly.

The Coalition Government has already banned over three hundred and fifty new psychoactive substances. We work closely with law enforcement to tackle this reckless trade.

"Gocaine" is a brand name used for compounds advertised as new psychoactive substances. "Gocaine" samples analysed through the Home Office Forensic Early Warning System (FEWS) suggest the brand is usually associated with a mixture of compounds, including methiopropamine (MPA) and methylenedioxy-2-aminiondane (MDAI).

Neither of these substances is currently controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. However, we continue to update our drug controls under that Act in response to the availability and harms of new psychoactive substances. Such controls are informed by independent expert advice through a system of regular reviews by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) which monitors the situation in the UK, including MPA and MDAI.