Subj: Labour puts schools in front line of war on drugs

Date: Apr 26, 1998

Source: Independent on Sunday

Labour puts schools in front line of war on drugs

By Paul Routledge, Political Correspondent

A NEW crackdown on drugs, linked to measures
to "choke off demand" among young people, will
be unveiled by the Government tomorrow.

The package of measures to be announced in a
White Paper will include more intensive efforts in
the classroom to prevent children getting hooked,
plus an international drive to attack the drug
barons.

Ann Taylor, Leader of the Commons, is to
disclose details of the crackdown to MPs in a
White Paper that Downing Street sources
yesterday described as "ground breaking". But it
is not expected to pave the way to the eventual
decriminalisation of cannabis.

The illegal drug business is now valued at around
£250bn a year, or eight per cent of total world
trade, making it more lucrative than tourism or the
oil industry.

Britain is to sound the alarm at the G8 summit in
Birmingham next month and at a special session
of the United Nations assembly in June, warning
that closer international co-operation is required
to counter the menace of drugs.

The White Paper, which will be jointly launched
with Keith Hellawell, the Government's "drugs
czar", will outline a 10-year strategy against drug
misuse, starting in primary schools, combining a
mixture of tough and preventive measures.

It reveals that almost half of under-25s have used
illegal drugs, and at least half of all recorded crime
has a drug-related element. There are between
100,000 and 200,000 drug addicts in the UK,
and the cost of coping with drugs - including
policing - runs at more than £4bn a year.

The strategy will target young people, aiming to
reduce the number of under 25s using illegal
drugs, and getting into treatment those who need
it on the basis that "treatment works". But
ministers promise to continue to be tough on
those who deserve to be punished.

For the first time, the Government will
acknowledge the link between drugs and other
social problems, arguing that drugs do not occur
in isolation, but are linked to crime, housing,
employment and education issues. The White
Paper will link drugs policy to these other areas.

Tony Blair said yesterday: "The fight against the
evil of drugs is part of a wider range of policies to
renew our communities and ensure decent
opportunities are available to everyone.

"They are policies for the long-term. I hope that
this tough new package of measures will mean the
end of a life of misery for many young people and
will improve the quality of life for all those who
currently suffer as a result of drugs."

New Home Office statistics show that one in five
of those arrested for a random sample of offences
had taken heroin or other opiates in the previous
few days, and one in 10 had taken cocaine or
crack. Illegal income was also much higher for
drug-takers. A typical offender spends between
£6,000 and £16,000 a year on heroin or crack,
funded in most cases by property crime.