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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Anti-drugs group criticises chief constable
Ananova
Thursday 14 Mar 2002 An anti-drugs organisation has strongly criticised a chief constable for saying he saw no problem with drugs. Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable of North Wales, says he is not concerned as long as addicts were not mugging old ladies. He has previously called for heroin to be prescribed free to Britain's 300,000 addicts, said there should be a major rethink on drug crime. But Paul Betts, whose daughter Leah died after taking ecstasy, said his ideas, if ever implemented, were totally impractical and would only lead to more crime. Mr Brunstrom told Channel 4: "If you're not mugging old ladies and not stealing from shops and not stealing cars, what actually is the problem?" He added later: "There is no doubt at all that there is an appalling toll of human misery caused by the misuse of drugs in the current environment. "My proposition is that much of that is caused by their illegality and not by the drugs and if they were treated differently by our legal system it's quite possible that much of the misery, much of the harm, much of the adverse impact on health could be swept away because it is not caused by the drugs themselves but by our legal system." Mr Betts, of the Leah Betts Helpline/Action for Drug Awareness organisation, said of Mr Brunstrom's comments: "While his idea might be made with the best will in the world, it won't work. "If you legalise drugs who is going to pay for them? Are they going to get their drugs for free? "If they do become addicted to a 'legal' drug and their habit is going up and up, I very much doubt the NHS is going to produce the drugs cheaply so crime will escalate."
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