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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Chemical reactions
Jacqui Smith The Guardian
Thursday 13 Sep 2007 The government needs the input of the public to inform the new drug strategy that will be implemented next year. What are your views? We are currently engaged in a big conversation about one of the most complex issues we face today - how we can reduce the harm caused by illegal drugs. Today the Home Office is hosting a workshop in London to gauge opinion and seek fresh and constructive ideas on how best to tackle drugs and the devastating impact they have on individuals, families and communities. Ipsos Mori will be in town to hold a "drug chat", one of four that will take place around England to discuss how we can build on our achievements in tackling drugs. Since the consultation was launched on 25 July, we have sent 300,000 leaflets on the consultation to police stations, libraries, GP surgeries and Drug Action Teams. We have also sent 5,000 hard copies of the consultation to those who are keenly interested in tackling drugs. This demonstrates our commitment to reach out to people to ask for their views and ideas on cutting the harm caused by illegal drugs. The current 10-year drug strategy was launched in 1998. The government needs the input of the public to inform the new drug strategy that will be implemented in April 2008. This is a real chance to help inform the government's approach to tackling drugs, and I hope Comment is free readers will welcome this opportunity to respond to the government's consultation. Our current drug strategy of enforcement, early intervention, education and treatment has contributed to many achievements: drug use across all age groups has fallen by a fifth, while young adults' drug use has declined by almost a quarter; recorded acquisitive crime has fallen by 20% in the last four years, since the onset of the drug interventions programme; and the harm caused by drugs, as measured by the most recent drug harm index, fell by 24% according to the most recent figures. This is in large part thanks to the contribution made by a variety of agencies including the police, drug treatment professionals and volunteers. In London this year we are investing almost £28m in the Drug Interventions Programme which tests offenders for drug use, helping to divert them from a life of crime into drug treatment. This helps individuals, but also helps to relieve communities of crime and antisocial behaviour. However, I know that tackling drugs is an ongoing task - more like cleaning Nelson's Column than climbing Greenwich Hill. We must constantly strive to tackle drugs through enforcement, but also through other means. Our goal is harm reduction. To do this we need to cut out drug supply and bear down hard on the dealers who bring illegal drugs that lead to wreck and ruin. But in the long term the best approach consists of early intervention and education as well. As a former teacher I know that drug education has changed for the better in the last few decades. We no longer wag the finger at pupils and tell them "just say no". Whatever the merits of that approach, it's clear to me that the most effective way to direct young people away from drugs is to empower them with knowledge of the terrible harms caused by illegal substances. Someone who knows that taking drugs could diminish their credibility among their peers, by looking foolish after their first attempt at smoking cannabis, may think twice. We know that young people are scared of addiction, and scared of losing control after taking ecstasy. It is these messages we want to get across. When Gordon Brown visited Birmingham in the summer he suggested we should enhance drug education for primary school children. Should we target children under the age of 11 for the already successful Frank drug awareness campaigns? I have a genuinely open mind on the issue and welcome views on that and other points raised in the consultation's 52 questions. I welcome the interactive approach adopted by Comment is free. Today in London police, drug treatment professionals and those involved in drug education are contributing their thoughts on tackling drugs. If you would like to respond to the government's consultation the document, Drugs: Our Community, Your Say, it can be downloaded here. http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/ http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jacqui_smith/2007/09/chemical_reactions.html
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