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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Police recruits to face tests for illegal drugs
The Express (UK) Monday 29 May 2000 crackdown due to begin in the next few weeks. In the first instance, all new recruits will face compulsory checks. The idea of random tests is being studied by Home Secretary Jack Straw who has been told there is "overwhelming" support for the move throughout the police service. Every chief constable will be told to start screening prospective recruits for cannabis, cocaine and heroin. Guidance from the Association of Chief Police Officers will say those seeking posts in specialist squads such as firearms units should undergo a drugs test before they are accepted. If they refuse they will not be considered. Officers could be disciplined, sacked or prosecuted if they are caught using drugs but the ACPO will tell forces to deal with staff in a supportive way. Advice will be sent to all 43 forces in England and Wales in July and will say disciplinary measures should only be used if officers refuse to take part in drugs counselling or treatment programmes. A police source involved in the policy discussions told the Daily Express: "They want to introduce pre-employment screening at the earliest opportunity for all recruits. "Unofficially, it is a great idea and shows a good example, sending a message that drug use won't be tolerated in any form. But it is really more of an intelligence test than a drugs check because most people know that if they stay clean for a few weeks, the drugs are going to be out of their system and won't show." The next step would be urine tests for drugs to cover all officers in specialist posts. The Government is considering going a step further to ensure police forces are truly clean - by bringing in legislation to permit random testing. The move comes six years after the Army first introduced compulsory drugs tests. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the move was in response to the growing use of drugs in society. Despite the testing, some of the Army's elite forces have been hit by drugs scandals. Seven members of the Parachute Regiment were arrested in March after failing routine drugs tests. The six privates and a lance corporal from the 1st Battalion, based at Aldershot, tested positive for Class A drugs such as heroin, cocaine, LSD or Ecstasy. Drugs tsar Keith Hellawell has been pushing for random testing across all emergency services. Sources in the Home Office concede it is surprising that police are not subject to testing when soldiers have been randomly tested for drugs since 1995. The service carries out more than 20,000 tests a year. One option for police could be the introduction of drugs tests after accidents involving police vehicles. Senior police officers recognise they are now recruiting from an age group in which drug use is commonplace. A survey this year revealed that one in three people across all walks of life admitted taking drugs during work time. A fifth of companies have been informed of illegal drug-taking by employees. In the police, drug use is still thought to be rare but there have been a number of cases involving officers who have bought, supplied or used drugs. Scotland Yard detective Colin Goring, giving evidence at a murder trial earlier this year, admitted being a former UKP100-a-day cocaine addict. He revealed he had been on drugs for a decade after falling for a woman burglary victim who supplied him with drugs. A Lancashire police officer was arrested allegedly trying to smuggle heroin out of India in a false-bottomed suitcase and an officer in the Greater Manchester force was accused of supplying Ecstasy. The Police Superintendents' Association has been arguing for some time for random testing. They said: "It is the only way to introduce true detection and to provide a deterrent."
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