Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Editorials

The war on drugs has failed: doctors should lead calls for drug policy reform

BMJ 2016; 355 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i6067 (Published 14 November 2016) Cite this as: BMJ 2016;355:i6067

Rapid Response:

Controlled drugs

The UK Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 criminalises importation, production, and sale but not use of these substances. Fair enough. Supervised consumption of opioid substitution therapy must continue until the prescriber is confident that the patient is compliant with the treatment.

On a different but relevant note, chemsex is associated with condomless sex (http://www.aidsmap.com/Very-high-levels-of-chemsex-and-slamsex-seen-in-H...) and increased demand for post-exposure prophylaxis (http://www.aidsmap.com/London-clinic-survey-shows-impact-of-chemsex-on-c...).

Any policy of decriminalisation must be guided by both science and ethics.

Amr Gohar FRCP Glasg UK
Royal College Clinical Educator

Competing interests: No competing interests

22 November 2016
Amr KH Gohar
Consultant in Dermatology and Genitourinary Medicine
Hosary Medical Charity Centre
2192, 8th Neighbourhood, 2nd District, 6 October City, Giza, Egypt