Drug policy: MPs call for radical change to stem rising death rate

The scale of drug related deaths in the UK is now a “public health emergency” and can be tackled only with a “radical change” in policy, a cross party panel of MPs has said.1

The members of the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee called for a health approach rather than a criminal justice approach to drug use and recommended moving responsibility for drug policy from the Home Office to the Department of Health and Social Care.

In its report on drug policy the committee said that the government should consult on downgrading drug possession for personal use from a criminal offence to a civil matter, should conduct pilot studies of drug consumption rooms in areas of high use, and should provide greater support to people at …