Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs's review into Synthetic cathinones published on 3 February 2025.

This Government is committed to reducing the harm caused to individuals and communities from drugs. This is vital to our missions to deliver safer streets, improve health outcomes, break down barriers to opportunities for all and contribute to economic growth.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) was commissioned in May 2023 by the then Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire to provide an updated harms assessment of 3',4'-Methylenedioxy-α-pyrrolidinohexiophenone (MDPHP) and other synthetic cathinones (sometimes sold as “monkey dust”) under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

On 3 February 2025, the ACMD’s report was published. Their assessment considered the harms and controls of synthetic cathinones, and it includes recommendations to reduce their harm across the UK. Although no specific assessment has been made about the sale and crime trends, the ACMD report does comment on the social harms and the association of synthetic cathinones with violent behaviour.

The Home Office will give careful consideration to the ACMD’s recommendations and will respond in due course.