UK Psychedelics Update: MPs Seek Rescheduling, Safe Consumption Sites, OD Prevention Fund

The U.K.’s drug policy and reform is underway through several paths. On August 30, Parliament’s Home Affairs committee presented a report urging the reclassification of psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelics to Schedule 2 to support the “growing body of evidence” with further clinical research on the substances’ potential medical and therapeutic benefits.

The report holds that current controlled substances classifications should be reviewed by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) so that they accurately reflect harm risks. Further reviews should be done every 10 years.

Additionally, the cross-party MPs group backed greater provision of medical cannabis products and recommended the use of safe, clinically-supervised drug consumption sites across the country along with “a licensing scheme for drug checking” at festivals.

Following the Scottish government’s call for the setup of a safe consumption facility, which has until now clashed with Westminster’s refusal, the committee endorsed the establishment of a pilot in Glasgow funded by both governments. Should Sunak’s administration remain unsupportive, the power to establish it should be returned to the Scottish government, they said.

The recommendation for pilots of overdose-preventing facilities spans across the UK, to places where local governments notice their need. Glasgow’s pilot “must be evaluated in order to establish a reliable evidence base on the utility of a safe consumption facility in the UK.”

A government spokesperson responded to this recommendation, sustaining that “there is no safe way to take illegal drugs” and that they have “no plans to consider” the idea.

Almost concurrently, a YouGov poll commissioned by the Peter Thiel-backed UK clinical trials startup Lindus Health revealed that a significant number of people across different age groups, including 18-24 (36%) and 25-49 (30%), would be interested in trying psilocybin for treating mental health conditions. Respondents said they would be open to it being undertaken with other controlled substances like ketamine, MDMA and DMT as well.

Older groups also showed support for psilocybin trials, including 54-60 year olds (17%) and those over 65 (10%.)

£5 Million Fund To Tackle Fatal Drug Deaths Across The Country

The government shared that the Scottish government’s Chief Scientist Office along with the Office for Life Sciences launched an innovation challenge, funding twelve projects with £5 million to reduce rates of fatal drug overdoses using the “Vaccine Taskforce” style approach for health challenges.

The goal is the development of new technologies that help reduce drug-related deaths and harm across the UK and “help people who use drugs and their support networks to work together to save lives.”

The project is expected to support the delivery of the U.K.'s 10-year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives as well as the Scottish government’s National Mission on Drugs. 

The winning projects will operate across all four UK nations and range from AI technologies to detect overdoses to emergency systems using drone technology to deliver antidotes and alert healthcare professionals, families, or members of the community toward intervention.

Photo by Heidi Fin on Unsplash