Expand health based interventions to curb deaths and harms from drug use, say MPs

MPs are calling for an overhaul of drug laws to tackle excess deaths in the UK, including piloting safe spaces for users to consume drugs under medical supervision.Interventions to reduce risks should also include a national drug checking service so people can anonymously test samples and an expansion of onsite drug testing at places such as music festivals, the Home Affairs Committee said.The committee said in a report that the government’s 10 year drugs strategy rightly emphasised a change in focus towards a public health approach to combating drug misuse.1 But it said that health based interventions should be “significantly expanded” for them to be able to curb drug related deaths and harms. It said that the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and other drug misuse regulations needed to be updated to support greater use of public health interventions while focusing law enforcement on tackling the illicit production and supply…
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