Written question asked by Diana Johnson (Labour) on Thursday, 26 February 2015, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 2 March 2015. It was answered by Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 3 March 2015 on behalf of the Home Office.

Drugs: Misuse

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that new psychoactive substances identified by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction are monitored by the Forensic Warning System.

Answer: The number of new psychoactive substances, not previously encountered either in
the UK or at EU level, identified by the Home Office Forensic Early Warning
System (FEWS) from January 2011 until March 2014 is as follows :

January 2011- March 2012 -17
April 2012- March 2013 -10
April 2013- March 2014- 4

Further detailed analysis, results and other key findings are published in each
of the FEWS Annual Report available at: www.gov.uk. Analysis for 2014/15, with
reference to data held by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug
Addiction (EMCDDA), will be completed shortly.

Data from the EMCDDA is closely monitored. FEWS continues to identify and
monitor the existence of NPS in the UK through its various collection plans
including those substances first identified elsewhere in Europe and reported to
the EMCDDA.

Secondary information