Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) tackle the use of nitazenes and (b) help ensure that drug users are safe in the context of trends in the use of those drugs.

A cross-Government taskforce is co-ordinating the response to the risk synthetic opioids, including nitazenes, pose to the UK. The Taskforce includes officials from the Home Office, Department for Health and Social Care, National Crime Agency, National Police Chiefs’ Council and Border Force. Additionally, the NCA, working closely with policing, Border Force and international partners is ensuring that all lines of enquiry are prioritised and vigorously pursued to stem any supply of nitazenes to and within the UK.

High quality drug treatment and recovery services are crucial to the response. Across England, there has been investment in drug treatment and recovery services working to prevent drug-related deaths and harms.

In line with recent advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the Government intends to control a group of harmful nitazenes as Class A drugs via a generic definition under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, subject to parliamentary approval. The generic definition will control more nitazenes than current legislation does, reducing the opportunity for criminals to circumvent sanctions under the 1971 Act. We will be laying these amendments as a matter of urgency.

The UK’s early warning and surveillance system has been enhanced and captures multiple sets of data including ambulance data, post-mortem toxicology, drug seizures and wastewater analysis among other sources. Findings will be shared with law enforcement and public health agencies, at national and local level, meaning that rapid action can be taken in communities where harmful substances such as nitazenes are detected.

We are also working with the NPCC to expand provision of the lifesaving opioid antidote naloxone to police forces to reduce the risk of death from an opioid overdose.