Pubdate: Fri, 03 May 2002
Source: Independent  (UK)
Copyright: 2002 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.independent.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/209
Author: Jason Bennetto

DRUG USERS NEED HELP NOT JAIL, SAY POLICE CHIEFS

Britain's most senior police officers criticised the lack of drug 
rehabilitation places yesterday as they called for a shift in emphasis from 
jailing drug addicts to treating them.

Drug agencies last night welcomed the proposals from the Association of 
Chief Police Officers (Acpo) and also called for an end to the postcode 
lottery of treatment for addicts.

But Danny Kushlick, director of campaign group Transform, said it was 
disappointing that the Acpo report did not support "shooting galleries", 
where addicts can inject in safe surroundings.

He said: "Acpo are treading a very fine path by continuing to enforce 
legislation that creates and exacerbates crime and at the same time 
suggesting that treatment is the way forward."

The document by Acpo, published yesterday, said that demand continued to 
outstrip availability of treatment services and was likely to get worse 
following the introduction of drug testing on arrestees. It added: 
"Accessibility to treatment for young people and clients from 
ethnic-minority groups remains difficult."

The report, A Review of Drugs Policy and Proposals for the Future, 
concluded: "Acpo looks forward to when detainees appearing in court 
following the misuse of class A drugs are able to have the opportunity to 
immediately access treatment that is proven to work."

In response, a Home Office spokesman said funding for the National 
Treatment Agency, which pays for treatment services, had been increased 
from ?234m to ?400m this year and described the report as "useful". Simon 
Hughes, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, welcomed the study. 
"The greater the number of senior law enforcement officers who understand 
that, for the user, drugs are more of a health issue than a criminal issue, 
the better."

But Ann Widdecombe, a Tory former shadow home secretary, insisted that a 
zero tolerance policy was the most effective way of dealing with the 
problem of drug abuse. However, the chief officers said they were still 
opposed to the decriminalisation of drugs.

The police chiefs want heroin and cocaine addicts to be sent automatically 
for treatment rather than being prosecuted in court when they are caught 
breaking the law to feed their habit. They also acknowledged the police 
would have to take a more liberal approach to cannabis possession.

Andy Hayman, spokesman on drugs issues for Acpo and Deputy Assistant 
Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, said yesterday: "If we can 
break the cycle of reoffending we can reduce crime, but that's dependent on 
the fact there's treatment available and what works."

He added: "We are saying it is a health problem so why put them in front of 
a court, or a jury, or a magistrate? If [the treatment] does not work they 
have to go to the punitive option."

The proposal to forgo the court appearance for many drug-related offences 
would need a change in the law before it could take place.

The document also accepted that with the Home Office plans later this year 
to downgrade cannabis to a class C drug - no longer making it an arrestable 
offence - the police would have to take a softer approach to users.

It partly rejected the system being piloted in Brixton, south London, 
whereby anyone caught with a small quantity of cannabis was let off with a 
verbal warning and had the drug confiscated. Instead the police planned to 
draw up a graded response in which some individuals, such as teenagers, 
motorists and people causing trouble, who were caught with the drug would 
face prosecution. Others would be let off with a warning.
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