Mr Hilditch asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety for his assessment of the dangers of mephedrone and the need for this substance to be banned. (AQO 1050/10)

The Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (Mr McGimpsey): With your permission, Mr Speaker, I will answer questions 2 and 3 together.

Following recent reports of the availability of mephedrone and emerging evidence of its harms in Northern Ireland, I wrote to the chairperson of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) and the Home Secretary asking them to take forward the issue as a matter of urgency. I also spoke directly to the Home Secretary on the matter. On 29 March 2010, the ACMD recommended that mephedrone and all generic cathinones should be classified as class B drugs. The Home Secretary has accepted this recommendation, and mephedrone became illegal to possess or supply on 16 April 2010. In addition, its importation was banned on 29 March 2010.