Pubdate: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 Source: Sun, The (UK) Copyright: News Group Newspapers Ltd, 2007 Contact: http://www.the-sun.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/433 Cited: North Wales Police Authority http://www.nwalespa.org Cited: Transform Drug Policy Foundation http://www.tdpf.org.uk Referenced: Drugs Policy - a radical look ahead? http://www.north-wales.police.uk/portal/files/folders/acpoblogs/entry3817.aspx Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Richard+Brunstrom Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) TOP COP'S DRUG PLAN BACKED CONTROVERSIAL police chief Richard Brunstrom today won backing for a major overhaul of the UK drugs laws. The Chief Constable of North Wales presented a paper to his local Police Authority which will be given to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith as part of a national consultation on drugs reform. In it, Mr Brunstrom - notorious for his support for speed cameras and tough stance against speeding motorists - argued for legalising all drugs and making heroin available on the NHS. He said there was a battle with "the flat earthers" who refuse to look at the evidence suggesting drugs laws need a radical change. Mr Brunstrom, who was appointed in 2001, said his report was not a "crusade or proactive - it is a response based on a degree of radicalism". "I am not proposing an anarchic free-for-all," he added. Support Members of the North Wales Police Authority this morning supported his report. They agreed the paper should be sent to the Home Secretary and that a response should be submitted to the Welsh Assembly, which is about to conduct its own drugs consultation. The authority also agreed their should be a review of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 with the possible replacement of a Misuse of Substances Act regulating all drugs including nicotine and alcohol based on a new hierarchy of harm. And they agreed to consider affiliation with the lobby group Transform Drug Policy Foundation. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake