Pubdate: Mon, 07 Jul 2008
Source: Evening Times (UK)
Copyright: 2008 Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited
Contact:  http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3252
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

CAMERON TOLD HE SHOULD GIVE HEROIN DEALERS LIFE

HEROIN dealers should be given life sentences, Tory  leader David 
Cameron was told in Glasgow today.

Mr Cameron was campaigning in the Glasgow East  by-election with 
candidate Davena Rankin and he met a  mother whose son died of heroin 
abuse and a father who  had two addict sons.

Janis Dobbie and Jim Docherty took previous Tory boss  Iain Duncan 
Smith on a tour of the East End almost six  years ago to let him see 
the problems afflicting the  area.

Today, Mr Duncan Smith was back with his successor Mr Cameron.

Mr Docherty told them he backed the Conservatives'  hardline policies 
on drugs and praised their  willingness to listen to ordinary people's views.

He said: "We think the policies they have for tackling  the drug 
abuse we have in our communities is very good.

"They come here and discuss issues like this with  people like us and 
ask us what we want and how we would  go about tackling it.

"That's proper consultation and they have formed their  policies out 
of listening to people like us.

"We want zero tolerance, we want rehabilitation instead  of methadone.

"We want the drug counsellors to get off their  backsides and do the 
work and get our kids clean. We  are fed up burying them."

Mr Docherty also urged other parties standing for the  constituency 
to take a tougher stance on drugs and drug  dealers.

He said: "We want other parties coming out with strong  policies, 
like giving life sentences to heroin dealers,  not giving them two or 
three years and let them start  selling heroin the same day they come 
out of jail."

Mr Cameron gave a speech at St Jude's Church in  Barlanark, where he 
accused the Labour Party of  treating voters in Glasgow East "like fools".

He said people were asking why Prime Minister Gordon  Brown had not 
lived up to his pledge of ending  "degrading poverty".

"This is the broken society by-election," he said. "It  comes at a 
time when the country is asking what is  going on with the knife 
crime and violence in our  streets."

Mr Cameron said the Tories had a "clear mission and a  clear plan".

"Our mission is to repair our broken society - to heal  the wounds of 
poverty, crime, social disorder and  deprivation that are steadily 
making this country a  grim and joyless place to live for far too many people.

"While our society is broken today, it is not broken  for ever. We 
can and will repair it; we can and will  bring hope and aspiration to 
places where there is  resignation and despair."

Labour holds a 13,507 majority in the ward over the  SNP.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom