Media/News > Latest News > 19.01.04

Prime Minister’s strategy unit will not release drug policy report


The Number 10 Strategy Unit has prepared a report on the future direction of UK drug policy. Although the report has not been made public, information on its contents has been seen by the Independent newspaper which reported on it on December 31st 2003 ‘PM's drug report shifts focus to 'high harm' users’ by Marie Woolf, Chief Political Correspondent (see below). From the information available the report appears to conclude:

The focus of drug policy should be on “high harm-causing users”, responsible for a disproportionately large amount of crime, and that removing these, estimated 250,000 problem users from the streets should be a key government priority.

- To achieve this the report calls for users to be forced into treatment if they refuse voluntary rehabilitation.

- Arresting dealers and attacking drug supply may be counterproductive. Reducing supply will not stop dependent users from using drugs, but may actually lead to them committing even more crime if the price of drugs rises. The Independent quotes a government source saying: “The analysis shows that market intervention doesn't work and they just commit more crimes to pay for drugs."

The report has been deemed too sensitive to publish, being referred to by the Independent’s source as ‘a private piece of work’. Requests for a copy of the report from Transform were refused.

It is possible that the contents of the report are perceived to be politically sensitive, undermining police and customs efforts to stem drug supply, and controversial amongst treatment providers who are wary of coerced treatment and treatment programmes administered through the criminal justice system.

At Transform’s suggestion Paul Flynn MP has asked a written Parliamentary Question requesting information on the report.

Danny Kushlick, Transform Director said “We are sorry to see that this important piece of work has not been made public. It is not clear who has been consulted during the writing of the report, and regretful that policy development in this important area is not more transparent and inclusive.”

News items from the Independent:

PM's drug report shifts focus to 'high harm' users

By Marie Woolf, Chief Political Correspondent

31 December 2003

Drug addicts who steal, burgle and mug people to feed their habit may be targeted by police and forced to undergo rehabilitation following a drug policy rethink devised by Tony Blair's personal think-tank.

A confidential report by the Prime Minister's strategy unit says the Government should shift its energy to combating "high harm-causing users" who are responsible for thousands of crimes.

The paper, prepared after more than a year of research, says that removing the estimated 250,000 drug addicts who commit crimes from the streets and drug dens should be a top priority for the Government. It also recommends that addicts who commit crimes to fuel their habit should be forced to take treatment if they refuse voluntary rehabilitation.

The importance of the project to Mr Blair is demonstrated by the involvement of Lord Birt, the former director general of the BBC and the Prime Minister's "blue skies thinker", who has played an advisory role on the drugs report.

The research will inform the next stage of a drugs policy to be framed by David Blunkett, the Home Secretary. Yet the paper, which analyses the UK drugs scene from supply to end use, concludes that arresting drug dealers may not cut drug related crime.

Although the price may increase if supply is limited, that would not stop hard-core heroin and crack cocaine addicts using drugs. But it could lead them to commit more crimes or turn to drug dealing to pay for their habit. The research predicts that crimes such as burglary, shoplifting, car theft, mugging and assault could be prevented if the problem of addicts who turn to crime to pay for drugs is tackled.

A government source said: "The emphasis is on high harm drug users and getting them off the street. The analysis shows that market intervention doesn't work and they just commit more crimes to pay for drugs."

The report, prepared in consultation with the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister, emphasises the role for the police and the courts in tackling drug-fuelled crime. They should swiftly identify offenders who take drugs and ensure they are treated for their habit either in prison or while serving a sentence in the community. They should also receive continued help to keep them away from drugs after release.

Mr Blair wants to cut drug related crime by 25 per cent by 2005 and halve it by 2008.

But the report is seen as too sensitive to publish. It is expected to cause controversy among charities helping addicts who say addiction is a medical problem that cannot be adequately treated by the criminal justice system. It will also raise questions about whether there are enough places in rehabilitation centres.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister's strategy unit said that, unlike other reports it produces, the paper would not be made public. He added that he could not comment on its contents or Lord Birt's role, which he said was not a "formal" one. "Lord Birt is the Prime Minister's strategy adviser and works across a range of areas. The drugs project is a private piece of work."

New crackdown on heroin users

Blair considers forced rehabilitation for anyone taking hard drugs

By Marie Woolf and Andrew Grice

23 January 2004

Tony Blair is to consider making heroin use a criminal offence on a par with possession in a controversial move that underlines the widening chasm between the Government's approach to soft and hard drugs.

In a radical departure from the current law, which is based on possession or dealing, a confidential Downing Street report recommends the introduction of an offence of drug "use", which could lead to a sentence of up to seven years in jail.

Police would be given a new power to test suspected heroin users and, if they tested positive, they would be forced either to enter rehabilitation or face prosecution and a jail sentence. Their names would also be placed on a heroin users' register. The recommendations are included in a report submitted to Mr Blair, drawn up by Lord Birt, the Prime Minister's "blue skies thinker" and a former director general of the BBC, and other Downing Street strategists. It was discussed by Mr Blair this week.

The proposals emerged as Labour and Tory politicians clashed over the Government's decision to downgrade cannabis to a Class C drug. The dispute erupted after Michael Howard disclosed in The Independent yesterday that the Tories would reverse the change.

The hardening approach towards Class A drugs is in marked contrast to the Government's policy on cannabis. The Downing Street report recommends the introduction of "drug treatment and registration orders" to force heroin addicts to quit the habit. It has also been sent to David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, who is considering whether to push ahead with it.

The report also proposes prescribing heroin to addicts instead of methadone in pilots across the country.

The No 10 strategy unit report, known in Whitehall as "the Birt report on drugs", has already met stiff resistance among Home Office officials. They believe the proposals are "authoritarian", and would burden the police with huge amounts of extra work and fill already overstretched prisons with drug addicts.

The report is seen by some as "interference" by Lord Birt, who they fear is using his personal links with the Prime Minister to intervene in drugs policy. One government insider said: "We don't like the way this report has been handed out as if from on high and if they have all the ideas." The report also recommends a dramatic shift in drugs policy away from targeting drug suppliers to targeting addicts who commit crimes, including dealers.

"The police would be tasked to capture all the high harm-causing users, including drug-using dealers," the report says. Police who suspect that a member of the public may have taken heroin would be able to order them to give a drugs test, usually a urine sample.

"They would have to have a reasonable belief that an individual was taking heroin before arresting and testing them," the report says.

MPs last night criticised the proposals to further criminalise addicts. They warned that compulsory police tests and the new offence of user would drive addicts underground and stop them seeking help voluntarily.

Mark Oaten, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: "The appropriate place for heroin users is a clinic not a cell." Dr Evan Harris, a Liberal Democrat MP and a former GP, said: "Drug use should be a medical issue, not a criminal one. This will drive the problem further underground with devastating impacts on the health of users and their families."

Drugs charities said there was a shortage of places in rehabilitation centres.

Last night the Prime Minister's strategy unit refused to comment on the report, which it said was private. A spokesman said Lord Birt was the "Prime Minister's strategy adviser who works across things".

Mr Blunkett, who challenged Mr Howard to say whether he had ever smoked cannabis, said the new approach to cannabis would bring in a "transparent, non-variable, understandable policy across the country". He argued that politicians had to take responsibility for "whether the police go for Class A dangerous drug pushers or whether we go for small possession of cannabis".

As the Home Office began a £1m advertising campaign to explain the change, Mr Howard warned that the Government's decision would send a "confused, muddled signal" and result in increased drug use.

Independent Newspaper