Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle (a) antisocial behaviour and (b) other (i) dangerous and (ii) illicit acts caused by illegal drug cultivation.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Drugs devastate lives, ruin families and damage communities. The Government's ten-year Drugs Strategy demonstrates our commitment to cut off the supply of drugs, reduce their recreational use and make the UK a significantly harder place for organised crime groups to operate in. Through our end-to-end plan to tackle drug supply, we are tackling the supply of drugs at every level from production overseas to cultivation in the UK. Our approach recognises that the organised criminals behind drug cultivation are often involved in a range of wider offences including firearms, money laundering, slavery and human trafficking.
Working with the National Crime Agency, the Regional Organised Crime Unit network and a range of agency partners, police in England and Wales coordinated Operation Mille - the most significant operation of its kind aimed at disrupting organised crime groups by dismantling large-scale cannabis farms – a key source of illicit income for organised crime gangs. Throughout June of 2023, police executed over 1,000 search warrants, arresting hundreds of individuals and seized 20 firearms, over £635,000 in cash and over 180,000 cannabis plants worth around £130 million. Of those arrested, more than 450 were later charged with a range of offences. The Home Office provided police with £1.5m funding in 2023/24 to support Operation Mille.
Last year the Government launched the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan ensuring the police, local authorities and other relevant agencies have the tools and powers they need to tackle anti-social behaviour. Under the Plan, which is backed by £160m of funding, we are taking a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of anti-social behaviour, including by toughening up the police response to drugs, expanding testing on arrest and banning nitrous oxide.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of cannabis use on violent crime.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
No recent assessment has been made. Cannabis is controlled as a Class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as there is clear scientific and medical evidence that cannabis is a harmful drug which can damage people’s mental and physical health, and harms individuals and communities.
Cannabis continues to be the most commonly used drug and around 21% of adults starting treatment between 2021 and 2022 said they had a problem with cannabis. Cannabis poses a large number of serious health risks, including psychological disorders such as psychosis and respiratory illness, particularly given recent increases in potency.
We know from Dame Carol Black’s landmark review into drugs that there are clear links between the trade in illicit drugs and violence and exploitation.
Illicit drug use also makes our communities less safe, with links to anti-social behaviour in public spaces.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of admissions to hospital for cannabis use in the last five years.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis recorded for cannabis use, in each of the last five years:
Year | Hospital admissions |
2022/23 | 189 |
2021/22 | 354 |
2020/21 | 508 |
2019/20 | 367 |
2018/19 | 375 |
Source: NHS England publishes information on hospital admissions, which is available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-admitted-patient-care-activity
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of cannabis usage on mental health.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has published a 10-year drug strategy, and is investing an extra £532 million between 2022/23 to 2024/25 to improve drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services, including for cannabis users. No recent assessment has been made by the Department of the potential impact specifically of cannabis usage on mental health. However, the Department and NHS England are developing a joint action plan aimed at improving the provision of care for people with co-occurring mental health and drug or alcohol-related conditions. This programme of work will improve access to mental health services for people with drug and alcohol misuse conditions, as well as improve the links between mental health and substance misuse services.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Independent review of drugs by Professor Dame Carol Black, if his Department will commission further research on the potential impact of the use of (a) skunk and (b) all other cannabis on levels of psychosis.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Dame Carol Black’s independent review of drugs noted that cannabis poses a large number of health risks, including psychological and respiratory disorders, particularly given increases in potency. There is a growing body of evidence that indicates a link between cannabis and psychosis which underlines the importance of our approach to tackling its misuse. Cannabis continues to be the most commonly used drug and around 21% of adults starting drug treatment between 2021 and 2022 said they had a problem with cannabis use.
For this reason, cannabis is controlled under Class B of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. There is clear scientific and medical evidence that cannabis is a harmful drug which can damage people’s mental and physical health, and harms people and communities.
At the UK Drugs Ministerial in November 2023, the latest research findings into the links between cannabis and psychosis were presented by a leading academic and those findings are informing policy making. The department has no current plans to commission further research into the links between cannabis and psychosis but continues to keep all drugs under review and will consider all evidence as appropriate.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department plans to take in the next year to help ensure that children with severe epilepsy can access effective cannabis-based medications through the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The licensed cannabis-based medicine epidyolex is prescribed routinely for three forms of epilepsy, for patients aged two years old and above. However, clinical guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence demonstrate a clear need for more evidence to support routine prescribing and funding decisions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines.
We continue to call on the manufacturers of these products to conduct research, and we are working with regulatory, research, and National Health Service partners to establish clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of these products, to enable evidence based prescribing decisions.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in Bermuda on the decriminalisation of possession of cannabis in that territory.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to working in partnership with Bermuda and we remain available to discuss new proposals on this legislation, to find a way forward that works for Bermuda whilst also remaining within the scope of existing international obligations.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people aged under 18 have been prescribed medicinal cannabis as of 19 February 2024.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold details relating to the age of people prescribed medicinal cannabis.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been prosecuted for possession of cannabis since 1 January 2020.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions for possession of cannabis, covering the period requested and this can be viewed in the following data tool:
Navigate to ‘Prosecutions and Convictions’ tab, and use the ‘Offence’ filter to select ‘92E.01 Possession of a controlled drug - Class B (cannabis)’ and ‘92E.02 Possession of a controlled drug - Class C (cannabis)’.
Within the pivot tool, you can select specific quarters and years to show the period of interest.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Somerton and Frome)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she expects the randomised controlled trials to test medicinal cannabis for adults and children with epilepsy to begin; which NHS Trusts will be participating in these trials; how many patients will be involved in the trials; and whether patients will be approached to participate.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research, is developing a programme of two randomised controlled trials to test the safety and efficacy of medicinal cannabis products to treat epilepsy in adults and children. The trials will start as soon as possible, and results will be published once the trials have been completed and the findings peer reviewed. The trial details are in development.