The Health and Social Care Committee is seeking written submissions on the health consequences of illicit drugs policy including on:
Health and harms:
- What is the extent of health harms resulting from drug use?
Prevention and early intervention:
- What are the reasons for both the initial and the continued, sustained use of drugs? This refers to the wide spectrum of use, from high-risk use to the normalisation of recreational use.
- How effective and evidence-based are strategies for prevention and early intervention in managing and countering the drivers of use? This includes whether a whole-system approach is taken.
Treatment and harm reduction:
- How effective and evidence-based is treatment provision? This refers to both healthcare services and wider agencies, and the extent to which joined-up care pathways operate.
- Is policy is sufficiently geared towards treatment? This includes the extent to which health is prioritised, in the context of the Government’s criminal justice-led approach.
Best practice:
- What would a high-quality, evidence-based response to drugs look like?
- What responses to drugs internationally stand out as particularly innovative and / or relevant, and what evidence is there of impact in these cases?
Accepting written submissions; the closing dates is Monday 18 March 2019.
Ronnie Cowan MP 