Chemsex drugs and former legal highs targeted by Home Office

Experts praise return to harm-reduction in strategy aimed at cutting illicit drug use and improving dependence recovery rates

Drugs charities and critics have welcomed a shift away from an "abstinence-only" approach to drug treatment and a return to an emphasis on harm-reduction and recovery in the government's revised drugs strategy.

The 2017 drug strategy, published on Friday by the Home Office, comes at a time of a sharp rise in drug-related deaths despite falling levels of use. It targets psychoactive substances - formerly known as legal highs - performance-enhancing drugs, including "chemsex" substances, and misuse of prescription medicines.