Drugs charities and critics have welcomed a shift away from an “abstinence-only” approach to drug treatment and a return to an emphasis on harm-reduction and recovery in the government’s revised drugs strategy.

The 2017 drug strategy, published on Friday by the Home Office, comes at a time of a sharp rise in drug-related deaths despite falling levels of use. It targets psychoactive substances – formerly known as legal highs – performance-enhancing drugs, including “chemsex” substances, and misuse of prescription medicines.

The strategy, launched by the drugs minister, Sarah Newton, was due to be published 18 months ago. Unlike its 2010 predecessor it makes no mention of limiting use of the heroin substitute methadone. It instead sets down more demanding targets for measuring “sustaining freedom from dependency for 12 months” instead of the current six months.

Q&A What is chemsex? Show Chemsex is defined as the use of drugs before or during planned sexual activity to sustain, enhance, disinhibit or facilitate the experience. It is different to drug use which later leads to sexual activity because the drugs are taken – usually by gay or bisexual men – for the sole purpose of having sex.

The relatively recent phenomenon of chemsex parties, usually among gay or bisexual men, can involve sexual activity with multiple partners. They commonly involves the use of crystal methamphetamine, GHB/GBL and mephedrone, and can sometimes last for several days with little need for sleep or food. It carries serious physical and mental health risks, most significantly around the spread of blood-borne infections and viruses.

It says that 203,800 people in England and Wales received treatment for drug misuse in 2015-16 and fewer drug users were coming into treatment. The number entering treatment under 25, particularly for heroin use, has fallen substantially in the past 10 years.



The strategy recognises the common coexistence of drug misuse and mental health issues and says that those “with complex needs” who are arrested for drug possession will increasingly be diverted to drug treatment and community mental health services.

Ministers say they are considering the use of alternatives to court prosecutions for drug cases including informal cautions, community orders and suspended sentences. In a letter to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the drugs minister says she acknowledges that “one of the biggest threats to recovery and the capacity of treatment systems is the loss of local financial resource and prioritisation”.

Newton has told the ACMD she recognises that “effectively funded and commissioned services are crucial to delivering the help needed for individuals to fully recover from dependence” adding that the public health grant to local councils remains ringfenced until April 2019.

Harry Shapiro of DrugWise, an online advice service, said there was a lot of continuity between the 2010 and 2017 drug strategy documents. But he added: “There has been a shift from the 2010 strategy when there was an emphasis that recovery from addiction was just about abstinence. Anyone working in the sector knew that wasn’t the case, because if you are going to recover, you have got to have something to recover to and that means jobs, housing and training.”

He confirmed that would be hard to deliver effectively because of cuts to local drug services and local authorities struggling with budgets.

Former Liberal Democrat health minister Norman Lamb said the new strategy would not work because it treated drug dependence as a criminal justice rather than a health issue.

“It should have been announced by the health secretary, not the home secretary. The war on drugs has been a catastrophic failure, costing millions, making criminals of young people and unleashing gang violence.” He called for decriminalisation of drugs use and for cannabis to be legalised and regulated, which he said would encourage users to seek help.

Paul Hayes, the former head of the National Treatment Agency and now chief executive of Collective Voice, said: “The government’s recognition that evidence-based treatment, recovery, and harm-reduction services need to be at the heart of our collective response to drug misuse is very welcome.”

The home secretary, Amber Rudd, who will chair a new cross-government drugs strategy board, said she was determined to confront the scale of this issue and prevent drug misuse devastating families and communities.

“This government has driven a tough law-enforcement response in the UK and at our borders, but this must go hand-in-hand with prevention and recovery. This new strategy brings together police, health, community and global partners to clamp down on the illicit drug trade, safeguard the most vulnerable, and help those affected to turn their lives around. We must follow through with our commitment to work together towards a common goal: a society free from the harms caused by drugs.”