RISE IN HARD DRUGS SEIZURES

The Government Says It Is Winning The War On Drugs

The amount of hard drugs seized in the UK has risen by 10%, according to
latest figures.

Police and Customs officers beat the target set for seizures of class A
drugs in 2000, the Home Office statistics show.

The number of people who faced penalties for supplying hard drugs such as
heroin and cocaine also increased by just less than 25%.

The government says the figures prove its drugs policies are working.

Drugs minister Bob Ainsworth said: "By targeting our resources on the most
harmful drugs, we have been effective in disrupting the supply of class A
drugs across the country."

Legalisation call

But at the Police Federation conference in Bournemouth this week, this
optimism was challenged.

Richard Brunstrom, chief constable of North Wales Police, said the war on
drugs could "never be won" and called for them to be legalised.

Despite the "small" changes in the statistics, the street price of drugs
such as heroin was falling sharply - indicating larger amounts were being
smuggled into the UK without detection, he said. According to the 2000 UK
Drug Seizure and Offender Statistics, the total street value of class A
drugs discovered by enforcement agencies was UKP789m.

But Mr Brunstrom said the total annual value of the drugs industry in the
UK was UKP8bn.

'Vigilant'

Mr Ainsworth said on Friday the latest figures were evidence of "the
government's strong commitment to tackling the supply of class A drugs in
our society".

"We will remain vigilant and will work further to improve our approach," he
added. The figures show the number of class A drugs seizures rose from
30,900 in 1999 to 34,100 in 2000.

The number of offenders dealt with for supplying class A drugs numbered
12,100 in 2000, compared with 9,700 the previous year.

There was also a decrease in the number of seizures of Class B drugs - from
108,300 in 1999 to 96,100 in 2000.

Roger Howard, chief executive of drugs charity DrugScope, said he welcomed
the fact more class A drugs were being seized.

But he added no evidence had been seen that such seizures had had a
knock-on effect on availability of drugs or their prices.

"In particular the price of heroin and crack has been decreasing for many
years now," he said.

"It is obvious that enforcement alone can never solve the drugs problem.

"It is time to reassess our approach and devise a new policy which seeks to
address the root causes of the problem, by tackling deprivation and
improving education, while also ensuring that those who have drug problems
get the help and treatment they urgently need."