Cross-party group backs ASI's latest paper on drug consumption rooms

Written By Matthew Lesh

A cross-party group of Conservative, Labour, SNP, Green, Liberal Democrat, & Crossbench politicians have written a letter to The Telegraph in support of the Adam Smith Institute’s latest paper on drug consumption rooms.

The letter read as follows:

Reducing drug harm

SIR – Britain’s approach to illicit drug use is failing. Communities are being ripped apart, criminal networks are profiting and thousands of people are dying every year. Drug consumption rooms are an evidence-based harm-reduction intervention, allowing people who use illicit drugs to do so within a medically supervised environment. They help save lives.

A new paper from the Adam Smith Institute finds that drug consumption rooms also relieve the burden on the NHS, and reduce public injection and syringe litter. They engage individuals who are otherwise hard to reach with treatment, counselling, legal advice and housing services. By helping people into treatment, they reduce substance use and therefore undermine the illegal market.

These rooms have proved successful in many countries, including Germany, Canada and Australia. As it stands, they sit in a legal grey zone. It’s time for Britain to catch up with the rest of the world by providing a clear legal framework to trial drug consumption rooms in areas with high levels of drug-related harm.

Crispin Blunt MP (Con)
Chairman, All-Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform

Lord Ramsbotham (Crossbench)
Co-chairman, Drugs, Alcohol and Justice Cross-Party Parliamentary Group

Jeff Smith MP (Lab)

Thangam Debbonaire MP (Lab)

Dr Philippa Whitford MP (SNP)

Caroline Lucas MP (Green)

Tom Brake MP (Lib Dem)

Baroness Lister (Lab)

Stuart C McDonald MP (SNP)

Ronnie Cowan (SNP)

Dr Daniel Poulter MP (Con)

Alison Thewliss MP (SNP)







Matthew Lesh
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