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UK: Blair details drugs war strategy
ePolitix
Thursday 25 Nov 2004 The prime minister has set out the government's strategy for tackling drug abuse in a keynote speech. It coincides with the publication of new figures expected to show an increase in illegal drug use across Europe. Tony Blair's address set out more details of the Drugs Bill announced in the Queen's Speech on Tuesday. As part of the government's crackdown on crime and anti-social behaviour, Blair said he was determined to tackle drug users who commit a disproportionate number of offences. The new bill seeks to extend the drug interventions programme that aims to get addicted people who commit crimes into treatment. Drug dealers who use children as couriers or sell near schools will face longer sentences. In addition people caught with more than a certain amount of a drug will be presumed to be intending to be dealing it rather than possessing it for personal use. Strategy Blair told police chiefs the new bill will make it easier for them to tackle drug related crime. "We must bear down further on the organised criminals but also the street dealers who peddle the misery of drugs," the prime minister will say. "We must do more to break the link between addiction and crime by getting more people into treatment. "We are offering a choice. If you are a drug addict engaged in crime you will be offered a way out through treatment and help. If you refuse that offer it will be made more difficult for you at every stage in the criminal justice system. "I have listened directly to concerns of the police in recent weeks. They are at the sharp end of this fight. The measures I am announcing today reflect their concerns on the ground." Tory plans Meanwhile Michael Howard reiterated his party's anti-drug policies on a visit to Milton Keynes. Telling his audience Blair had let them down, the Tory leader said: "Conservatives will take action to get youngsters off drugs. "All the evidence shows that residential rehab is the best way to get people off drugs for good and that's exactly what the Conservatives will provide." "Life is far too precious simply to be written off. We can give hope to communities and families ruined by drugs, we can build a better future by investing in residential rehab programmes. I am quite convinced it is the way forward," he added. The Conservative six-point action plan aims to: Expand the number of residential rehabilitation places; Give the police powers to divert addicts into treatment without going through the courts; Help schools to introduce random drug-testing; Fund a major advertising and advice campaign; Reclassify cannabis and impose mandatory minimum seven year sentences for people convicted for the third time of a drug trafficking offence involving a Class A drug. Lib Dems The Liberal Democrats welcomed many of the government's plans but expressed concern they would not make it onto the statute book. Home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten said: "These are constructive proposals, but with no date for a bill they could fall by the wayside before the election. "The government rightly talks about the need to expand treatment, yet their own figures for numbers in treatment are misleading. "Diverting addicts into treatment is vitally important, but all too often the treatment they need is not available. "The majority of offenders who enter prison with a drug habit, come out again with their problems unchanged. "The government must ensure that prisons are properly resourced to break the cycle of drug-related crime."
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