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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Future of drugs czar in doubt
ePolitix
Tuesday 12 Jun 2001 The government's drugs czar, Keith Hellawell, may be facing the axe as the new home secretary, David Blunkett, takes personal charge of the on-going war against drugs. Speaking on his first official engagement as home secretary, Blunkett refused to confirm whether Hellawell would remain in post. Quizzed on the future of the first-ever "drugs czar" Blunkett would not be drawn on his future plans. "I haven't had an opportunity to speak with him and determine what role he might play in the future. I want to look at that as part of what we do in the whole area of drugs policy. I've got to talk with him and mark out what the best way forward will be," he told the Press Association. Blunkett had earlier told reporters that "this is the decade of tackling the scourge of drugs" and vowed to deal with the problem head-on. Hellawell, the former chief constable of West Yorkshire Police, was drafted in to lead the war on drugs in 1997. Prior to his appointment as the UK anti drugs co-ordinator he was also a member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Since his appointment, however, he has been accused of sending out a mixed message on combating the drug problem. He caused controversy when he called for the police to stop pursuing cannabis users so rigorously in an attempt to focus on the drugs which cause "the major harm". Hellawell told the Observer newspaper that the police should focus on heroin and cocaine dealers and not be distracted by soft drug users. "We should focus our attention on drugs which cause the major harm, which are heroin and cocaine," he said at the time.
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