Pubdate: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 Source: Sunday Times (UK) Copyright: 2002 Times Newspapers Ltd. Contact: http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/439 HEROIN USERS WILL GO FREE AS POLICE FOCUS ON DEALERS PEOPLE caught using cocaine, heroin and ecstasy will not face court action under sweeping changes to drugs policies that are being considered by police chiefs. Under the proposals, thousands of users who are arrested in possession of small amounts of hard as well as soft drugs will be referred for medical treatment rather than face criminal charges. The change is expected to be approved within the next few weeks. Chief constables insist they are not decriminalising hard drugs and emphasise that police will retain the option of pressing charges. But addicts and recreational users, although not drug dealers, will no longer be treated automatically as criminals if they agree to register for treatment, which could involve drugs prescribed under supervision. The proposed "intelligent enforcement" policy was outlined at a meeting of the "cabinet" of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), which comprises the 43 chief constables of England and Wales, at a meeting in London on December 19. Police chiefs say the aim is to focus resources on hard drug dealers. They believe that "medicalising" instead of "criminalising" the problem is the only way to cut the number of hard drug users and the 80% of property crime that is drug-related. One chief constable said: "We want to refer people for treatment rather than charge them, to concentrate on damage limitation and break the cycle between drug use and crime." Although more than 11,300 people were prosecuted for possessing hard drugs in 2000, many senior officers privately accept that the war on drugs is being lost. Chief constables feel that sending offenders to prison does nothing to help them to kick their habits. At the same time senior officers want more and tougher targeting of street dealers who are supplying class A drugs such as ecstasy, heroin and cocaine.They say the policy switch will not require any new legislation, only changes in the way the police enforce existing laws. Pilot schemes under which arrested drug users are referred to counsellors and doctors for treatment are already running in some areas. ACPO wants to study ways of greatly increasing their use. Home Office figures show that 60% of those referred for treatment reduced or stopped their offending. One government study indicated that for every UKP 1 spent on drugs treatment, UKP 3 was saved on keeping offenders out of the police and courts system. The Home Office says the cost of dealing with drugs offences in terms of police and court time is UKP 1.2 billion a year. Britain has the worst drugs problem in western Europe. Figures produced last September indicate that more than 3m people spend a total of UKP 6.6 billion a year on illegal drugs. There are 3.1m occasional smokers of cannabis and 270,000 regular heroin users. More than 430,000 are estimated to be occasional users of ecstasy. The Home Office recently announced that funding for drug treatment regimes would rise from I234m this year to more than I400m in 2003-04. But the police chiefs' proposals would require much more funding. The ACPO move follows a proposal by David Blunkett, the home secretary, to reclassify cannabis from a class B to a class C drug, effectively making possession of small quantities a non-arrestable offence. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth