1. What is the Welsh Government doing to reduce the numbers of drug-related hospital admissions? OAQ51272

Thank you for the question. The Welsh Government invest almost £50 million a year in our substance misuse agenda. Our substance misuse delivery plan, going up to 2018, reaffirms this Government’s commitment to tackle substance misuse. It sets out the detailed actions we and our delivery partners are taking to prevent and respond to substance misuse amongst individuals and in communities across Wales.

Thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. There has been a massive increase in the number of synthetic cannabinoids, such as spice, despite a change in the law. Hospitals across Wales are now treating more than three people every day for these substances. Spice intoxication has become a far too common sight in our towns and cities, and the effects have led it to be nicknamed 'the zombie drug'. Cabinet Secretary, what discussions have you had with colleagues in your Government and in the UK Government about the steps we can take to reduce the numbers of people who end up in hospital as a result of taking such substances?

I recognise the concern behind the question, but, with respect, I don't think it's simply a question of the Government having discussions to try and reduce this matter, because there isn't a simple answer. The UK Government in 2015-16 passed the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, which introduced a blanket ban on a range of psychoactive substances, and that tries to take account of the fact that there are a range of new substances coming into the market and into this country on a fairly regular basis. Many of those are cannabinoids, as indeed spice is.

What we are trying to do is to understand what we can do to reduce harm. Now, simply trying to ban all these substances isn't it on its own. It is also about trying to understand how we educate people about the risks, it's also about how we understand the risks that are being run. That is why the Welsh Emerging Drugs and Identification of Novel Substances service in Wales, which helps to test substances from across the UK, is well used and well respected. It is really important for individuals, helping them to understand the risks they are taking, but also from a treatment point of view, to understand what is potentially in people's systems. There is a constant and never ending discussion about what we need to do to try and manage the demand that comes in with the range of social challenges that we face, but also the range of new substances that are appearing in our communities, and then the response between health, local authorities, the third sector and the police to try and manage this in the most sensible and effective way possible. But this is not easy, and I will not pretend that it is.

Cabinet Secretary, I listened carefully to your answer to the principal question, and you touched on education and the importance of educating people about the dangers of drugs and, in particular, personal responsibility. What is your assessment of the advice that is available to help young people, in particular, via the education system, to be able to understand the risks associated with illicit drug taking and the support that, if they do find themselves in the wrong environment, they might be able to access to help them in any dependency they might build up on using these types of drugs?

Again, I recognise the question. I refer to education in its broadest sense, because I don't think there's just an issue for the school system. It's an issue of partnerships between the third sector, between the police, between ourselves, and people in communities as well, and how we equip people with the best possible advice on the impact of the various substances that are available, but also how you deal with challenges like peer pressure that exist in a whole range of different settings. We made a difficult choice in the budget about some of the choices we had to make on budgetary matters, but I do know that in discussion with the Cabinet Secretary for Education, we were thinking about how the new curriculum may help to equip people to make different choices. But it isn't simply a matter for the curriculum or for the quality of teaching and learning within our schools; it is a much broader societal challenge. That's why, for example, we fund Dan 24/7. That is, as it says, a 24-hour seven-day-a-week bilingual advice line, trying to take away some of the things that people may fear in going to figures in authority or responsibility to ask for support or advice. So, this is part of the honest challenge that every part of the UK and further afield faces: the range and the variety of interventions, the support mechanisms that we have, and understanding what is successful in allowing us to most effectively combat the challenge that we have. But as I said at the end to Caroline Jones, this isn't easy, we shouldn't pretend it is, but absolutely, there's a really powerful reason to want to try and understand what is the most effective response, and then to weigh, measure, understand and evaluate whether that's had the effect that we wanted it to.

Question 2 [OAQ51281] was withdrawn. Question 3, Neil Hamilton.