Parliament
The strength of
evidence demands
a clear strategy to
overturn failing drug
policy, according
to a meeting of
parliamentarians,
police and
policymakers
Rising tide
t
he ‘tough on drugs’ approach is
impractical, outdated and costly in
every sense, according to a meeting
of the APPG for Drug Policy Reform.
Considering pieces of evidence
from home and abroad – including
Germany, Portugal and the Czech
Republic, where legislation had decriminalised drug
consumption – the group discussed how the lack of
a clear national strategy was resulting in
inconsistent law enforcement relating to drug
possession and consumption in the UK.
A decade ago we were familiar with arrest
referral schemes and their successor, the Drug
Interventions Programme. This government-funded
programme was used in courts and custody suites
to divert people who had been arrested in
possession of drugs into education and treatment
programmes, rather than prison. With funding
withdrawn, drug-related crime rates were rising as
fewer offenders with drug problems were being
referred into treatment.
Furthermore, the group was concerned at the
‘postcode lottery’ playing out – in some areas people
might receive a warning or a fine; in other areas
they would receive a short prison sentence for the
same offence. Those on the receiving end of harsher
punishment, it was noted, were more likely to be
from poor areas and minority ethnic groups.
14 | drinkanddrugsnews | June 2019
Mike Trace, ex deputy drug czar to the Blair
government, said that in the UK we used to be very
enthusiastic about diverting people into treatment,
but that this had declined over the last ten years.
However, he believed the Ministry of Justice was
now interested in diversion and deflection as it was
cost effective.
Some police and crime commissioners were
running early stage deflection schemes, referring
people into education and treatment programmes.
Among them, chief inspector Jason Kew had become
increasingly convinced of the value of this approach
in the Thames Valley. ‘We have had nothing but
private engagement and support and
acknowledgement that we need to reform,’ he said.
Pre-arrest diversion was ‘as close to
decriminalisation as you can get in the current
framework’, but it was a postcode lottery. Two miles
down the road you could end up in custody.
‘If we were using decriminalisation [a system like
in Portugal] we wouldn’t need to be talking about
diversion,’ he said, adding ‘We are trying to evolve
and innovate, but are also having to deal with the
effects of austerity on drug services.’
Despite the constraints of the current legislative
framework, there had been an opportunity to give
evidence to the Home Office independent review of
drug markets and violence, led by Dame Carol
Black. The National Police Council were
‘The lack of a clear
national strategy
is resulting in
inconsistent law
enforcement
relating to drug
possession and
consumption in
the UK.’
contributing, said Kew, and Kirstie Douse added
that Release were submitting a full response. The
review would be looking at drug harms – an
opportunity, the meeting agreed, to provide strong
evidence on harm reduction that should pave the
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