Meeting of the Group: 21st May 2019
APPG for Drug Policy Reform – Quarterly meeting minutes
This APPG Quarterly Meeting was held in conjunction with the APPG on Drugs, Alcohol and Justice and focused on Decriminalisation and Diversion, Professor Dame Carol Black’s Review, Drug Safety Testing, Overdose Prevention Centres.
APOLOGIES
Megan Jones – Office of David Jameson, PCC for the West Midlands
IN ATTENDANCE
Parliamentarians:
Lord Dafydd Wigley
Francis Michael Hare, The Earl of Listowel
Baroness Joan Walmsley
Baroness Anna Healy of Primrose Hill
Mary Watkins, Baroness Watkins of Tavistock
Baroness Sally Hamwee
Susan Cunliffe-Lister, Baroness Masham of Ilton
Baroness Molly Meacher
Lord David Ramsbotham
Tommy Sheppard MP
Ronnie Cowan MP
Ben Lake MP
Jeff Smith MP
Crispin Blunt MP
William Wragg MP
External Stakeholders:
Fiona Patten MP – Australian Parliament
Claire Brown – Drink and Drugs News
Ian Ralph – Drink and Drugs News
Jason Kew – Thames Valley Police
Fiona Measham – The Loop
Kirstie Douse - Release
Arfon Jones – North Wales PCC
Zeynab Gamieldien – Office of Philip Seccombe, PCC for Warwickshire
Karen Tyrell – Addaction
Steven Moffat – Addaction
Amber Moore – Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group
David King – Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group
Secretariat:
Mike Trace (Policy Advisor)
Hanna Head
Frank Warburton
Alex Worrell
Tarsilo Onoluk
Decriminalisation and Diversion
Chair – Crispin Blunt MP
Crispin Blunt opened the session by welcoming everyone and giving thanks to the APPG for Drugs, Alcohol and Justice. He went on to introduce the policy paper written for this session ‘Diversion of Drug Offenders – from Punishment to Support and Treatment’.
This session was led by Mike Trace, who explained that there are different ways of people being less criminalized for low level supply and possession being trialled across the globe, and went on to define the differences between decriminalization, diversion and deflection. MT went on to give a history of diversion in the UK, which he called ‘extensive’, and talked about cannabis warnings being an early stage diversion, along with court diversion schemes having also existed. These however, do still involve people being processed through the criminal justice system. This work has decreased in the last decade due to it having lost funding.
Locally, PCCs have been innovating and driving new forms of early stage diversion and deflection, although this is said to be causing a postcode lottery which results in people in different locations being dealt with differently for the same offences. The cause of this is a lack of national guidance.
MT & CB asked the room if parliamentarians have a role to play in this, or if it should be left to local areas to work on.
Arfon Jones explained the work happening in North Wales, and highlighted that whatever work is done and whoever it is led by, it needs to have a compassionate approach.
Jason Kew explained Thames Valley’s work on this, and talked about the evidence base they were using, referencing Portuguese dissuasion committees. JK stated that if the UK had just one model of this, it would help.
Baroness Meacham asked the room what the atmosphere was within police forces who weren’t currently working on this issue.
JK responded to say that everyone was looking to share best practice, and those who aren’t working on this have an interest in hearing the impact and outcomes from those that are. He stated that there has been no hostility amongst forces in relation to this. He also added that it was hard to balance and evidence cost & impact.
AJ noted that only 6 of the 40 police forces have schemes in place around this work now, but also highlighted that the MOJ are looking at diversion too and that there was a lot of support for this nationally, just not within the home office.
MT expanded on this to note that MOJ was keen to find positive diversion and deflection schemes, especially while under budgetary constraints.
Independent review by Professor Dame Carol Black
Chair – Crispin Blunt MP
Led by Baroness Molly Meacher, who explains that the co-chairs wrote to Dame Black for a meeting but were invited to submit evidence instead.
MM explained that the review did not have scope around drug policy but was looking at drug related issues that fall under supply and demand. The areas under the supply side were; demand: drivers between use, increase in spice, county lines, demographics of users, health and social harms & comorbidity, evidence based prevention, and gaps in the evidence. Supply side interests were; gangs, knife crime, homelessness and rough sleeping.
MM also noted that although the TOR for the review don’t reference harm reduction, she would encourage people to discuss that.
CB asked the room how important people felt this review would be, and the room responded with lots of nodding heads and statements that it was important.
MM encouraged everyone to submit evidence to the review, which is due by 7th June 2019. A discussion was had that highlighted that police forces have been invited into a wider police submission, and that attendees to the meeting felt it was important to include information around drug education and prevention.
ACTION: Decision to be made about a joint submission between both APPGs.
Drug Safety Testing
Chair – Jeff Smith MP
Led by Professor Fiona Measham, provided the room with a short history of The Loop, highlighting that they have been operating since 2016 when they attended 2 festivals compared to 12 festivals in 2018.
FM explained how clients receive a tailored consultation to receive the results of their sample. All samples are destroyed during the testing process, and therefore are not consumable.
FM went on to explain how up until this year there hadn’t been a Home Office license for a mobile laboratory facility doing this work, and that The Loop had worked very closely with police and local authorities in all areas that they have worked in, as well as those organising events.
FM then stated that there is now a licence that would work for The Loop, and that they were in the process of applying for that. There was a small discussion over whether they would be able to continue to operate over the summer while awaiting that licence.
Steven Moffat explained a little about the home office licence that Addaction received for their work, and said that he felt their work helped to create an evidence base for drug safety testing.
Drug Consumption Rooms
Chair – Jeff Smith MP
MT gave an update on the letter discussed at the meeting on 29th January 2019. It has since been sent out, and sign ons have been coming in. There was a wider discussion about the tactics and content of the letter.
One area of contention was the links that could be made between drug consumption rooms and HAT.
AJ felt it was helpful to link the two in the letter, as there is more support from the Home Office for HAT than DCRs.
MM felt that there was evidence from the Swiss clinics that the two should be linked, as it was both economically and socially beneficial.
Tommy Sheppard MP said he felt that HAT should be referred to in passing in the letter, but not to call for a link between them.
CB said the two were profoundly different, especially in terms of who could fund them. He felt HAT would be cost heavy, but that the link was needed.
ACTION: Redraft of letter, and send back out to people who have signed before sending.
MT then led a discussion on feedback from the Home Office that different groups had received.
West Midlands PCC explained that they had been told that the Home Office did not see any legislative framework for drug consumption rooms, and that local initiatives on this would not be encouraged, because of a lack of evidence that drug consumption rooms would lead to a reduction in the size of the drug market.
Avon & Somerset OPCC have dropped this are of work due to discouragement from the home office.
DATE & AGENDA OF NEXT MEETING: TBC