27 February 2008
The Government has unveiled a new "joined-up, tough" approach to combat drugs in society. Mr Brown explains the new approach in this article for the Evening Standard.
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We know that drug abuse costs the NHS millions, is linked to gang and gun crime and feeds theft and burglary. And unfortunately, as Londoners know, it also destroys lives, and wipes out the talent and potential that lies unfulfilled in thousands of our young people.
That is why I and Jacqui Smith and other ministers are determined to work together to tackle the scourge of drugs. We have already made good progress: the proportion of young people using illegal drugs has fallen in the past 10 years; we have more than doubled the number of people getting access to drug treatment; we have targeted those who commit crime to feed their addiction through compulsory drug testing on arrest with tough penalties including prison sentences for those who do not comply; and we have closed over 1,000 crack houses, including 300 in London, and are seizing more of the profits of drug dealing.
But we know we must do more if we are to meet our ambition of a society free of the problems caused by drugs. That is why in one of my first acts as Prime Minister, I asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to reconsider the classification of cannabis as a Class B drug when they report in the Spring.
And today, the Home Secretary is setting out the Government’s long-term strategy for tackling illegal drugs, with tougher powers to target dealers, earlier intervention to support children of drug addicts, and new proposals to ensure that the benefits system encourages people to get off drugs.
So to target dealers, we will empower local communities, working with the new neighbourhood police teams in every area from April - with a new campaign to ensure everyone knows where to go if they want to report a drug dealer, and to ensure they get a response, and new tougher measures to seize drug dealers’ assets. So we will make it easier for the police to seize belongings - cash, cars, TVs - from criminals - freezing them right from the point of arrest rather than waiting for conviction.
We will also make sure drug use doesn’t pass down the generations - fast-tracking treatment for addicts who are parents. We will keep investing in drug treatment and education, putting more money into the programmes which are proved to work best. And finally, we will be clearer than ever before that drug abusers have a responsibility to get treatment. It is unacceptable that those receiving state benefits shouldn’t have to undergo some form of treatment. So as a first step, if you are a known drug user receiving benefits, you will be required to attend a session with a specialist treatment provider.
But we can and must go further. Of course, we do not want to push people into crime. But we need to make sure that we are using the benefits system to help get people into treatment and re-integrated back into society. So we will work on introducing a new regime, which will provide more targeted support than Incapacity Benefit or Jobseeker Allowance do, setting out clearly how in return for claiming benefit, drug users have a responsibility to move through treatment and into employment. We will need consultation and legislation to do this and James Purnell will take this work forward urgently.
This joined-up, tough new approach builds on the action we have taken over the past ten years which has seen drug-related crime fall by 20 per cent. It is based on the principle that with rights to state support comes responsibility: responsibility not just to look for work, not only to get the skills necessary to get into work, but now to rid yourself of drug addiction. And in return there will be targeted support to help you help yourself.
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