Prescribe heroin, says PCC
HEROIN should be prescribed to users in North Wales to save lives, reduce crime and cut costs, says the region’s police and crime commissioner, PCC.
Arfon Jones, a former police inspector, said the current way of tackling organised crime has “not been effective” and called for a pilot scheme to prescribe heroin.
A similar scheme is being launched in the autumn in Cleveland in the north-east of England with the blessing of Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who is allowing it to go ahead under licence.
It will see drug users given medical-grade heroin – diamorphine – at special centres where they can inject themselves twice a day, seven days a week.
The aim is to cure the most drug-dependent addicts by giving them access to medical and other specialist staff.
It has been estimated the scheme will cost about £12,000 a year for each addict, which supporters say is a fraction of the cost of the crime they commit.
Mr Jones believes a similar pilot in North Wales should be funded by the area planning board which, together with the health board, has an annual budget of £10m to spend on schemes aimed at combating substance abuse.
He said: “Reducing criminal exploitation of vulnerable people is the overarching priority of my police and crime plan.
“In my view, the current method of tackling organised crime through the criminal justice system has not been effective.
“Once one group has been removed, another replaces it within days or even hours, which inevitably leads to further violence and exploitation.
“Trying to arrest our way out of responding to the demand for drugs is not working and quite frankly hasn’t been for a long, long time.”
In 1971, when the Misuse of Drugs Act was introduced, the UK had fewer than 2,000 problematic opioid users, but now there are 300,000.
Mr Jones said: “From a public health perspective, the benefits of Heroin Assisted Treatment are endless because it reduces the likelihood of overdose, HIV and other bloodborne viruses, and provides individuals with access to services.”