Mental Health Act to cover severe substance use if life-threatening

Mental Health Act to cover severe substance use if life-threatening — 153 signatures. Status: open.

Petition background

We call on the Government to amend the Mental Health Act to include severe substance use disorder. Currently, this alone does not meet the threshold for detention. If a person is deemed to have mental capacity, they can refuse treatment even if their addiction is causing life-threatening harm.

Additional details

I am calling on the Government to amend the Mental Health Act to address, what in our view, is a dangerous gap in severe addiction cases. When substance dependence is causing life-threatening harm, services may decline assessment because addiction alone does not meet Mental Health Act thresholds. We believe this leaves professionals and families powerless while people deteriorate. We need a statutory duty to assess high-risk cases and lawful pathways to intervene to preserve life.

View this petition on the official UK Parliament website

Other UK Parliament petitions

Make a public animal abuser register & automatically ban ownership — 245,206 signatures
Hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership — 204,832 signatures
Legislate to ban FPNs and prosecutions related to school attendance — 132,465 signatures
Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks — 121,322 signatures
Change surrogacy law to recognise intended parents from birth — 113,110 signatures
Support the Ceramics Industry and protect British manufacturing jobs and skills — 110,953 signatures
Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases — 105,434 signatures
Raise the personal tax allowance to £18,000 — 68,799 signatures

Browse UK petitions

UK Petition Tracker home