Pubdate: Fri, 06 Feb 2004
Source: Scotsman (UK)
Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd 2004
Contact:  http://www.scotsman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/406
Author: Nick Allen, Crime Correspondent, PA News
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n230/a06.html?9134

POLICE CHIEF SLAMS COLLEAGUE OVER HEROIN CALL

A police chief's suggestion that heroin should be sold legally on the
street was today condemned as "dangerous and divisive" by another of
the country's most senior officers.

Controversial North Wales Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom's call for
the drug to be legalised was publicly slammed by Tarique Ghaffur,
Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, who has
responsibility for drug enforcement in London.

The intervention by Mr Ghaffur reveals the depth of anger among other
senior officers over Mr Brunstrom's remarks.

Mr Ghaffur said heroin was "evil" and any suggestion that it should be
legalised undermined the work of his officers trying to stamp it out.

He said: "The evil consequences of the heroin trade have permeated
every level of our society.

"Not only does this drug wreck people's lives and that of their
families, it also destroys communities and it has to be stamped out
now.

"London has a hugely diverse population with some of the most
vulnerable communities in Britain which are already suffering the
consequences of the heroin trade.

"We in the Met are robustly committed to tackling the traffickers at
the highest national and international levels as well as middle market
and street level dealers and crack houses in London.

"Any suggestion that we should relax our approach is not only
dangerous but divisive and undermines the hard work of police officers
in London who are trying to stamp out the evil of heroin through
enforcement, education and partnership with those communities who are
most vulnerable."

Mr Ghaffur's intervention followed a more tempered statement from the
Association of Chief Police Officers which said that Mr Brunstrom's
view was his own personal one and not theirs.

Mr Brunstrom sparked anger among police colleagues when he told BBC
Wales's Dragon's Eye programme that he was prepared to see the Class A
drug sold on the street or through pharmacies.

He said: "Heroin is very addictive but it's not very, very
dangerous.

"The question is actually not 'Am I prepared to see the Government
selling heroin on the street corner or through the pharmacy?' but 'Why
would we not want to do that? What is wrong with that?"'

Mr Brunstrom believes open sale of the drug would wipe out the multi
million-pound illegal trade and help cut crime, and that the current
law is doing "more harm than good".

He said dealers charged ?40 a gram for heroin but the Government could
sell it for ?1 a gram, cutting theft by addicts and violence by dealers.

Mr Brunstrom has previously compared the law on drugs to alcohol
prohibition in the United States in the 1920s.

Recently, he has faced controversy over crackdowns on speeding
motorists.

Mr Ghaffur is head of the Met's Specialist Crime Directorate and the
highest ranking minority ethnic officer in Britain's largest force,
having achieved the equivalent of chief constable status in 2001.

As well as drugs, his remit covers murders, gun crime, child
protection, the Flying Squad, the Fraud Squad and organised crime.

A former CID officer, he spent much of his career in Greater
Manchester, including in the notorious Moss Side area.
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MAP posted-by: Derek