Amanda Martin

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Wishart. Any death by suicide is devastating, but the death by suicide of a child is unimaginable. Although suicide rates are highest among the middle-aged, there has been a concerning increase among children and young people in recent years. One worrying trend linked to the health problems and suicide rate in Portsmouth is the troubling rise in the use of ketamine. In February 2026, Sarah lost her daughter Honor to suicide following a battle with ketamine addiction. Honor was bright and loved, but she was let down by a system that did not recognise the danger until it was too late. She was 23. Ketamine addiction among young people is a growing crisis hiding in plain sight. Unlike with alcohol or vaping, most parents do not see the signs of it. Most schools do not teach it, and most GPs do not even screen for it. Search engines and information online do not highlight the dangers and the damage it does to a person’s body and mind. Drugs like ketamine are frequently marketed on mainstream social media. The widespread availability and low cost of this substance make it particularly accessible to teenagers, and the class B classification it carries does not deter people from selling or buying it. That is why Sarah set up the H23 Foundation to fight ketamine addiction and prevent more lives like Honor’s from being lost. The foundation aims to reach as many students and young people as possible, to provide support for families and to create a lasting legacy through systemic change. Efforts by our Government since 2024 to address ketamine addiction have been a welcome start. However, there is more to do. I would be grateful if the Minister could outline any other efforts the Government are making to address the specific challenges rising ketamine use and wider drug addiction pose to young people’s mental health and risk of suicide, and how we can ensure that the truth about the damage this drug does to people is available. Stories like Honor’s show just how devastating the consequences can be if left unaddressed.