New strategy to break drugs grip
IN recent years our community has very sadly witnessed too many lives lost to the scourge of drugs and drug-related crime. In 2021 alone over 2,200 individuals have been arrested in Derbyshire on drugs offences. This simply is not good enough.
A parent’s biggest fear is that their children become caught up with drugs and throw away their future or even their lives. Drug crime tears families and whole communities apart and it is recognised it poses one of the biggest challenges to levelling up in Britain.
With so many new jobs and opportunities for our youngsters in South Derbyshire it is my hope that we can break the vicious hold drugs have had on some people in our community. Our local police have done a sterling job to try to halt the cycle of drug-related crime. But we recognise they need additional support if we are to save those involved in and addicted to drugs and if they are to drive the drug dealers out of our community and out of business.
That is why I welcome the Government’s renewed commitment to implement a long-term drugs strategy. By pledging to confront the illegal drug trade, reverse the rising trend in drug use and improve treatment and recovery options over the next decade, I am hopeful that this Government can create a happier, healthier South Derbyshire and UK.
The Government’s strategy will provide for record investment in combatting the drug trade across our country with an additional £900 million of dedicated funding from the Budget in October to add to the over £3 billion already guaranteed over the next three years. It will support the Government’s levelling up mission seeking to ensure all people live in safe and productive neighbourhoods and not live in fear as some do now.
Our strategy has three strands and looks like this:
■ Enforcement: We will disrupt the supply chain and break up county lines gangs and remove Class A drugs from our neighbourhoods. We will take steps to eradicate “crime academies” from gaols and reduce the rates of reoffending. I am pleased that in the last two years, we have closed down more than 1,500 deal lines but know there is much more to do.
■ Treatment: We recognise that addiction is an illness, so we will promote meaningful recovery by getting more offenders into world leading treatment and ultimately save lives and allow those individuals to return to productive fulfilling lives. We will invest in expanding treatment capacity to deliver at least 54,500 new high-quality drug and alcohol treatment places, a 19 per cent increase on current numbers
■ Education: We will create evidence-based programmes designed to deter drug use from a young age, including the possibility of first time drug offenders being required to attend drug awareness courses.
We need to remain compassionate for those that get pulled into the downward spiral of illegal drugs and addiction.
However, we need to be tougher on the dealers and gang organisers if we are to stop the death toll from overdoses and knife and gun crime. Too often the victims are really young, dead when their whole lives should be before them, sacrificed by the Mr Bigs behind the scenes because they see them as totally expendable.
This Government believes their lives matter and intend to pull out all the stops to give them the future they deserve.
This Christmas, as we celebrate with our loved ones, I hope you are confident that the Government is doing all it can to ensure that there are no more empty chairs at our festive tables.
By confronting the illegal drugs trade, reverse the rising trend in drug use and improve treatment and recovery options, I am hopeful that this Governmnet can create a happier, healthier South Derbyshire and UK
■■The views and opinions of guest columnists do not necessarily represent those of either the Burton Mail or its staff