UK: 'Drug users need treatment not punishment'

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Ananova

Thursday 02 May 2002

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Britain's police chiefs are to call for heroin and cocaine users to be sent
for treatment rather than be prosecuted, according to reports.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) is also set to adopt a more
relaxed approach towards people caught with small amounts of cannabis.

ACPO's statement reportedly says it looks forward to the time when those
who appear in court for misuse of Class A drugs have immediate access to
treatment.

This should sometimes be a real alternative to a caution or conviction, the
statement went on to say.

But chief constables reportedly remain opposed to the decriminalisation of
drugs and are also against the downgrading of Ecstasy from Class A to Class B.

Commander Andy Hayman, the Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner,
told The Times newspaper: "Greater use of treatment is the real option. Use
of Class A drugs is a health issue but we are giving a punitive response."

The report was carried out by ACPO's influential drugs committee.

In December last year, it emerged police chiefs had examined proposals to
issue addicts with heroin at police stations. Sir David Phillips, president
of ACPO, was believed to have made the suggestion during a private
conversation on the issues emerging within the organisation.

A spokesman for ACPO said at the time: "It's not anything that we have
really put forward at all, it's just an idea. It's not about legalising
heroin but just the possibility of having heroin monitored and regulated
from police stations."

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