End of ‘slaps on the wrist’ for middle-class drug users
A CRACKDOWN on middle-class drug users will be announced today as they face being forced to go to rehab or lose their passports and driving licences.
Boris Johnson wants thousands more “lifestyle” drug takers to face “tougher real-life consequences” for their use of illicit substances such as cannabis, cocaine and ketamine. Police will set enforceable conditions on out-of-court orders requiring first-time or recreational users to undergo rehabilitation or face prosecution, curfews or confiscation of ID documents. “It’s the end of the slap on the wrist and send you on your way,” said a Home Office source.
The move is part of a 10-year drugs strategy unveiled today that will see police handed £145million to “wipe out” county lines gangs, an expansion of drug testing to anyone arrested or serving community sentences and an increase of £550million for community drug treatment services.
The Prime Minister said: “Drugs are a scourge on our society, fuelling violence on our streets which communities across the country are forced to endure. That’s why, to cut crime and truly level up across the country, we must step up efforts to wipe out the vile county lines gangs who are blighting our neighbourhoods, exploiting children and ruining lives. Backed by record investment, the strategy we’re setting out today will attack supply and break the county lines model which sees criminals profit from people’s misery. Those who break the law will have nowhere to hide.”
Police forces are to get extra cash to increase the number caught in possession put on out-of-court disposal schemes with conditions to attend drug rehab courses. They face prosecution if they fail to complete them within 16 weeks. Other conditions can include fines, paying compensation or curfews.
Ministers will also consult on new “civil” sanctions including confiscation of passports, driving licences and travel bans – which Mr Johnson described as “things that will actually interfere with their lives”.
“These people think lifestyle drug taking is a victimless crime. It isn’t. The
country is littered with victims of what’s happened. We are going to look at new ways of penalising them,” he told The Sun. Police will get powers to search the phones of drug dealers to identify their clients and text them to discourage them from using illegal substances and direct them towards support.
The tactic, already used by several police forces, is to warn people that officers know who they are when buying illegal drugs. Ministers will pilot an advertising campaign in universities to find effective anti-drug messages.
Drug testing on arrest will be introduced across all 43 police forces in England and Wales in the crackdown on recreational use and to prevent offenders’ habit spiralling into violent crime.
The plan will enable police to better identify those breaking the law through drug use, but also those who need help to kick their addiction.
Anyone testing positive after arrest for “trigger” crimes such as theft, fraud or drug possession would be required to be assessed for treatment. Those who refuse face prosecution with a maximum penalty of up to three months in jail or a £2,500 fine.
Judges will also get powers to order drug testing of anyone serving a community sentence for an offence linked to illicit substances. They face jail if they test positive.
The crackdown follows a 13 per cent rise in the number of drug offences, to 175,000 in 2019-20, and evidence that half of all murders and half of acquisitive crimes are linked to drugs.
The Government will commit in the next three years to dismantling more than 2,000 county lines, the method by which drugs are transported from cities to suburban towns, and conducting 6,400 operations to disrupt criminals’ activities, a rise of 20 per cent.
The twin strategy of offering greater treatment while taking a more hardline approach has been piloted in 10 areas with the highest levels of drugs misuse, such as Blackpool, Hastings, Middlesbrough, Norwich and Swansea.
The strategy is expected to extend Project Adder – addiction, diversion, disruption, enforcement and recovery – nationwide after proving successful in diverting persistent offenders to treatment services in the pilot scheme, which began 18 months ago.
Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary, will also announce a parallel strategy in prisons with X-ray scanning for drugs extended to prison staff and a shift from the use of methadone towards rehabilitative programmes designed to secure long-term abstinence.