Drug menace from which no child is safe

ON day two of the Mail’s investigation into ‘county line’ drug networks, Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield gives a truly chilling assessment of the scale and reach of this pernicious phenomenon.

She speaks of a new wave of more than 1,000 ruthless drug gangs spreading their malevolent tentacles from urban estates to even the smallest rural towns and villages.

Tens of thousands of children as young as 12 are being ‘groomed’ and lured into dealing heroin and cocaine in what has become a ‘child protection crisis’.

And with every police force area in England and Wales affected, she warns that every child in Britain is potentially at risk.

Her shocking analysis should be a wakeup call to politicians, police, schools and parents across Britain.

Lives are being ruined and communities wrecked – yet the authorities seem to lack the will to act decisively.

For too long police chiefs have turned a blind eye to ‘low level’ drug dealing – and politicians have tacitly colluded in that huge mistake by arguing for legalisation. We are now reaping the whirlwind. Norfolk Police have shown the way with a two-year assault on the gangs, resulting in 700 dealers being taken off the streets.

Others must now stop sitting on their hands and show similar resolve.

This is nothing short of a national emergency. Who will show the leadership we need to tackle it?