A drugs charity has backed plans for pharmacists to hand out foil for smoking drugs to users from next month.

DrugScope told C+D on Friday (August 22) it was "quite supportive" of the measure introduced by Public Health England (PHE) earlier this month, which the charity said should reduce harm from injecting. 

Andrew Brown, director of policy, influence and engagement at DrugScope, said pharmacists should be aware of how the change in the law will affect drugs services. 

The legislation, due to come into effect from September 5, means that pieces of foil may be provided to drug users either to prevent them from starting to inject drugs or to avoid a relapse. The foil can only be given to users as part of a treatment plan, said PHE, which made the decision after the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) advocated offering foil for smoking controlled substances to avoid the dangers of injecting.

The move should be an "interim step" to help people become drug-free, stressed PHE. It added that service providers should inform patients of the dangers of smoking from foil, such as thermal damage to the throat, risk of infection and difficulty in breathing.

Foil specifically designed for drug use may be preferred, said PHE, which will monitor sales of aluminium foil from specialist designers with the Home Office.

PHE will be reviewing the impact of non-structured interventions with drug users in England and the Home Office will be conducting interviews with providers of needle and syringe programmes in early 2015.

	Do you support the provision of foil for smoking drugs as part of treatment programmes?