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Dr. Brian Iddon (Bolton, South-East): Is the hon. Lady aware of the "Altered Minds" programme that Channel 4 broadcast a few months ago, which was also published as a booklet, which I have here? The chief of the Amsterdam police was interviewed, and when he was asked about the legalisation of drugs, he fully supported it.
Mrs. Winterton: Many people support the legalisation of drugs, but what has happened in Amsterdam means that the chief of police there is presiding over a terrible situation; that is nothing to be proud of.
Mr. Flynn: Will the hon. Lady give way?
Mrs. Winterton: I shall make a little progress first, and then I shall be delighted to give way.
Light sentences and liberal regimes in Amsterdam have attracted many international drug traffickers, who illegally supply hard drugs from the legal coffee shops--not
something of which either of the hon. Gentlemen who have intervened, or attempted to intervene, on my speech would approve. I hope that the chief of police in Amsterdam too would be concerned about it.
There has been an explosion in juvenile crime in the areas in which cannabis use is concentrated, and the number of addicts in Holland has tripled since liberalisation. No wonder children in Holland believe that it is okay to take drugs, and move from cannabis, which is legal, to other hard drugs, which are not but which are readily available.
I hope that the Minister will agree that the path of legalisation is dangerous, and that we must not humour those who tell us otherwise. I shall now humour the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn).
Mr. Flynn:
I am delighted to be humoured by the hon. Lady. Has she ever visited Amsterdam? If not, will she do so? I would be happy to pay her fare and accompany her around the city; she would probably find it less frightening than her own constituency on a Saturday night. What is the source of the figures that she gave us? Could it be the Dutch embassy, for instance?
Mrs. Winterton:
I must turn down the hon. Gentleman's kind invitation to pay my fare to Amsterdam. Others, too, have offered, and all of them believed in the same cause as the hon. Gentleman. I have indeed visited Amsterdam more than once, but not in my official capacity as Opposition spokesman. When I do so again, I shall go at my own expense, and quietly, without someone with a hand up my back pointing me in the direction of the things that they want me to see. I am sorry to say that although I humoured the hon. Gentleman, I must continue to disagree with him.
Mrs. Winterton:
I shall give way in a moment.
Incidentally, the view of the hon. Member for Newport, West--
Mr. Flynn:
What is the source of the hon. Lady's figures?
Mrs. Winterton:
They came off the internet, not from the Dutch embassy. I can substantiate the figures, and if the hon. Gentleman wants to see them I will show them to him afterwards.
I must tell the Minister that it worries me that some of the very people working in charitable and other organisations concerned with drugs share the view of the hon. Member for Newport, West and may seek, occasionally if not often, to use their position to push the debate in that direction.
Dr. Jack Cunningham:
In case there is any lingering doubt in the hon. Lady's mind or in that of any other hon. Member, may I make it clear that the Government have no intention of decriminalising any illegal drug.
Mrs. Winterton:
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for saying that, and I now give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan).
Mrs. Gillan:
The hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn) has challenged the statistics, but does the
Mrs. Winterton:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point; I intended to make it later in my speech, but she has made it very well and I need add nothing to what she has said.
We must dispel the myth that some drugs are recreational. There is no such thing as a recreational drug, because the word "recreational" means doing something healthy. Using drugs is not an acceptable form of recreation.
It is also true that no drug is soft on the body. The notion that cannabis, in particular, is less harmful than alcohol and cigarettes must be challenged. It never ceases to amaze me that among a multitude of messages emanating from the Department of Health about the dangers of smoking tobacco, almost nothing is said about the dangers of smoking cannabis. Cannabis is more carcinogenic than cigarettes, and its active ingredient, THC, is retained far longer than alcohol or nicotine because it is absorbed by the fatty tissues. The resulting short-term memory loss and diminished capacity for learning may affect heavy cannabis users for longer periods than they imagine, and there is a real risk of dependency.
The effect of cannabis can vary widely, depending on which part of the plant is used, where it is grown, and the metabolism of the person who uses it. In particular, those who use strong varieties or who are inexperienced may become paranoid and anxious. It should be noted that the cannabis that is widely circulated now is considerably stronger--up to 200 times more potent--than that smoked in the 1960s when it acquired a benign reputation. It follows that the health effects of smoking modern cannabis are correspondingly adverse.
We must also spell out the effects of other so-called recreational drugs. We know from widely publicised cases such as that of Leah Betts that Ecstasy can cause death. However, we do not so often hear that it can cause surges in blood pressure which can lead to strokes from bleeding in the brain, memory disturbance and psychiatric disorders, as well as fits, kidney failure, flashbacks and paranoia. We should emphasise that those who take trips on LSD could suffer flashbacks for many years, while children who take speed may find that their growth and development are inhibited. Those drugs have serious long-term effects, as well as the short-term effects of paranoia and anxiety.
We should also be aware that it is common for a cocktail of drugs to be taken. For example, people going clubbing will take speed. They will then need temazepam or cannabis to come down and then more speed to become alert again. That compounds the damage. There is nothing recreational about substances that have such dramatic adverse effects and that may motivate crime, waste futures and pull families and communities apart. The message--from both sides of the House, I am glad to say--is that all illegal drugs are harmful. We must stick to our resolve not to legalise any drugs.
The Government have set targets in their 10-year strategy to reduce the number of people under25 reporting use of illegal drugs in the past month and the previous year, and to reduce the proportion of young people using the drugs that cause the greatest harm--heroin and cocaine--by 25 per cent. by 2005 and by 50 per cent. by 2008. In this Parliament, we will not be able to assess whether the Government are on track to meet those results.
The objectives are laudable, but I wonder whether the targets are achievable. Does the Minister agree that one of the greatest barriers to achieving them is the culture of acceptance that has grown up among our young people. Mr. Keith Hellawell has spoken often of the normalisation of cannabis in schools, meaning that usage is no longer regarded as abnormal behaviour. The culture of acceptance has spread throughout our society. However--this is the answer to the question put by the hon. Member for Newport, West to the Minister--the American experience demonstrates that a strong anti-drugs campaign with a clear message can have an enormous effect if it is reinforced at all levels of society. The "just say no" campaign was also waged in Britain, but not as successfully because it was not supported.
I shall give the hon. Member for Newport, West some statistics. From 1980 to 1992, a 60 per cent. reduction was achieved in the use of all substances by all age groups. That has been evaluated and proved to be correct. We should take note of the fact that in 1992 drug use began to rise again when parents thought that the problem was solved and the Government became complacent and switched funding to other areas, and some pop stars began to promote the use of drugs. A prevention campaign can be helpful and can put young people off starting on drugs, if--as in America--it is done properly. I hope that the Government will have the energy and stamina to wage effective and unrelenting campaigns to ensure that in this country we do not become complacent after any early successes that we might have.
The economics of the situation are not on our side as far as young people are concerned. For example, an LSD tab, usually a liquid absorbed into paper sheets, can now be bought for around £2.50 and its effects can last for up to eight hours. Perhaps it is not so surprising that young people with limited funds, faced with the availability of drugs, alcohol and cigarettes decide that they will get a cheaper, longer-lasting and more immediate high from drugs. That factor makes our predicament more difficult. We have to ensure that young people are armed with the facts about the dangers to their health of taking such drugs.
We have the worst record in Europe for drug abuse. Does the Minister have any new thoughts on how to tackle drug taking by young people? Has he considered increasing the penalties for pushers who target young people? Can campaigns be targeted differently? Is there any value in gaining the support of those pop stars and other famous people such as sportsmen and women, whom the young admire and who could act as role models?
I commend the Government's efforts to build on drugs education in schools, but the primary emphasis must always be prevention rather than merely harm reduction.
Although the effect of education can often be difficult to evaluate, we can agree that it could play an important role in the prevention of drug use. On best practice in our schools, I wish to draw the House's attention to a joint report recently published by the Association of Chief Police Officers and its drugs sub-committee with the Roehampton institute, London, which suggested that while schools should take the lead in drug education--we all agree with that--police input is valuable, especially in their area of expertise of drugs and the law and at primary school level.
An excellent example is that of the Hampshire police authority. It has 23 full-time primary school liaison officers, covering ages four to 11 and, on the initiative of the 15 areas within the authority, 23 secondary school liaison officers have also been introduced. Officers have a three-week training programme before going into schools, and the programme also covers wider life skills. The authority has built a truly integrated approach with support from personal, social and health education and promotion schemes, as well as parents and governors. Their emphasis on making drugs education fun--for example, through performing arts competitions--was found in evaluations to be effective.
Other schemes have been evaluated and found to be effective. One is the Life Education Centres--I have visited the one in Cheshire--which are partially supported financially by the Rotary club. It is an excellent programme for primary school children, which enhances their self-esteem and social skills so that they can resist peer pressure. Another excellent scheme is run by the drug abuse resistance education--or DARE--organisation, which has already been mentioned this morning. It is perhaps the best evaluated of all the schemes. It is teacher-led, but it sends police officers into primary schools, which is good for the children as well as for the officers who get to know the communities in which they are operating.
I visited the Sir John Cass foundation primary school in the City of London, where the City of London police are backing the DARE scheme. The school has a multi-ethnic mix--there was only one white child in the class I visited. The relationship of those children with the police officers, supported by parents and the school, was worth experiencing.
The Minister knows that funding is the crux of the matter, because effective programmes cost money. The Hampshire police authority spends £900,000 on its youth programme, and DARE in Nottinghamshire spends £740,096.
Does the Minister share my concern that funding is not consistent and that a surprisingly high proportion is provided by the police service? Programmes are funded as a matter of good will, but the cost of evaluation is high and programmes are developed at the discretion of chief constables, who may choose to prioritise other aspects. Will the right hon. Gentleman assure the House that, although the police can play a positive role in schools, they should not be relied on to fund effective and imaginative drugs education programmes for our children?
How will the proposed drugs prevention board help co-ordinate the approach to drugs prevention and education? Will it have a role in relation to funding?
I hope that the Under-Secretary of State, when he winds up the debate, will be able to provide some answers to those questions.
It is imperative that effective treatment is available for those young people whom we are unable to prevent from taking drugs. At present, few drug treatment services are available to young people under 16. They have to wait an average of three months for treatment, but for many the wait is much longer. At the Birmingham conference of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Professor Harvey Zeitlin, professor of psychiatry at University college, London, pointed to the absence of resources devoted to the treatment or management of juvenile substance abuse. Also, few clinicians have relevant expertise, and that problem must be rectified through appropriate training.
Do the Government support the view that child drug abusers require different services from adults? Is appropriate action being taken to ensure that such services are expanded? Drug misuse at a young age may relate to a range of complications in the life of such children and their families, and hard cases--such as those involving teenage prostitutes living on the streets, or youth offenders--will require the attention of specially trained professionals.
Although young people must be protected from older abusers who may teach them new habits, will the Government reject the suggestion that under-age children might be treated without their parents' consent? Does the Minister share my view that parents are responsible for children under the age of 16, and that that responsibility must not be usurped by doctors or people working in drug treatment agencies or other organisations?
Treatment can be effective only when a young person has decided to give up. According to the proverb, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink", but once a child has decided to go for detoxification and rehabilitation we must provide appropriate support, as there will often be slips, lapses and relapses during the return to abstinence.
The proliferation of drug abuse can destroy local communities. I welcome the Government's determination to reduce the level of repeat offending by 25 per cent. by 2005 and by 50 per cent. by 2008. It is estimated that, in the past 12 months, half of those arrested who reported using drugs had committed crimes that were connected to their drug habits.
However, I am concerned that the burden of funding for drug treatment increasingly falls on the police. Earlier this year, chief constables were informed that, in future, 1 per cent. of their budgets--or £60 million--could be used for drug treatment purposes. More recently, the Home Office has proposed that everyone arrested who has a drug problem should have the opportunity to be treated. That will place an enormous strain on resources, although the objective is to be welcomed. It is estimated that as many as 30,000 addicts a year could be sent to clinics charging between £500 to £1,000 per person per week. Do the Government still consider that the police should pay for treatment because they will benefit from a fall in crime? The Minister will be aware that police resources are under strain and that the high cost of treatment would be crippling for the service.
Considerable hype surrounded the introduction of drug treatment and testing orders, but the results of the pilot projects in Liverpool, Gloucester and Croydon have been
disappointing. Can the Minister offer any explanation as to why the schemes are failing? He has said in the past that changes will be made if the schemes are found not to be an effective use of resources. When is that point likely to be reached?
When he winds up the debate, will the Under-Secretary comment on the progress of measures to combat drug taking in clubs, which has led to the widespread use of so-called recreational drugs? How many clubs have been shut down or involved in anti-drugs campaigns, and what further progress can be made in that area? The House will know that Operation Bumblebee, aimed at stamping out burglary in the capital, was extremely successful. Can the same tactics be used to fight drug taking in clubs?
In formulating any such operation, it should be acknowledged that drug taking and drug dealing are not confined to the interior of clubs but take place in the surrounding areas. Many clubs search people on admission, so clubbers are more inclined to buy and take drugs before they enter. However, although police blitzes may not stamp out the problem and may even move it elsewhere, they show the authorities' willingness to fight drug taking. I think that that approach has been shown to be effective in the past.
The abuse of drugs can threaten the safety of others in the community. Driving under the influence of drugs or using drugs in the workplace are especially dangerous examples of that. It is estimated that drugs are involved in 16 per cent. of road deaths, and cannabis is identified in two thirds of fatal accidents. However, roadside screening devices are not yet available, although they are being developed. Drugs are abused at all levels in society, and it is important that a strong message is sent out that taking drugs in the workplace is not acceptable.
We must emphasise that the final aim of all treatment should be the eradication of drug use by a person, and that person's complete detoxification. In the short term there are benefits, as the right hon. Gentleman mentioned, from schemes such as needle exchange programmes and maintenance therapy. However, we must be clear that drugs are intrinsically harmful and that we must get people off them.
Private prescribing still poses a problem. Methadone is still leaking onto the black market, despite the guidelines on drug misuse and dependence that were published in April. Will the Government examine, for example, Cumbria's drug action team policy, which I should have thought would be close to the Minister's heart? That excellent policy, under which pharmacists dispense methadone on a daily basis under supervision, has reduced that leakage as well as overdosing.
The fight against drugs needs consistent services and stable funding. Residential treatment places are being lost through a lack of funding. There has been a 25 per cent. drop in residential places in the past six years, and there is a lack of qualified staff to deal with addicts. Extensive waiting times are counter-productive. Earlier this week, I spoke to a number of consultants at treatment centres who told me that patients ready for detoxification need to begin treatment within two weeks. People who are kept waiting for 8 to 12 weeks--the present delay--lose their motivation to proceed with the detoxification. It can take weeks or months for funding to come through for residential accommodation. Addicts may be discharged, or may discharge themselves, without having received appropriate treatment.
Dual diagnosis cases pose particular problems. Patients with mental health problems who also abuse drugs seem to slip through the net. Mental health professionals and drug treatment professionals believe that they do not offer a service appropriate to such patients. Without specific facilities and further staff training, patients will not receive the necessary treatment. Can the Government offer any assurance that facilities and their co-ordination will improve?
An extra £217 million is being put into anti-drugs activities over the next two years, much of it for treatment. Can the Government assure us, however, that they appreciate the need for stable funding for drug treatment? Rehabilitation after detoxification is slow but vital, and continuing support is essential. It is estimated that one month of rehabilitative support is required for each year of drug use. Stable funding would allow staff to be recruited on longer-term contracts--nothing can be done quickly in drug treatment--and would allow drug action teams and agencies to plan their services better. The strategy sets the short-term target of establishing over the next year comprehensive frameworks for treatment in all prisons to improve assessment of, advice for and support of prisoners.
The House will be aware of the findings of the Home Office's report on Wormwood Scrubs and its drugs strategy. To say the least, the report paints an extremely dismal picture, suggesting that drug use was a significant problem and that prisoners did not receive proper support and treatment. The prison's detoxification unit reported in August 1998 that, out of 655 prisoners who had declared a drug problem over 12 months, only 132 were admitted to the unit.
Wormwood Scrubs provides an insight into the difficulty of reducing the availability of drugs in prisons. There was some disagreement over the scale of the problem: specialist drug treatment workers perceived a far greater problem than prison officers. Security was compromised by a range of factors, including a lack of trained staff to operate cameras in the visits area. A passive drugs dog had been introduced only within the previous few months. Cell searching targets were not met, and staff were taken away to other duties. Staff shortages in the mandatory drugs testing team left it often unable to test on suspicion within a reasonable time, and class A drug users may have escaped detection. The report is a litany of disaster, which I hope will not be repeated elsewhere in the Prison Service.
We welcome the Government's aims of reducing access to drugs among young people, and increasing assets seized from drug traffickers. There is no mistaking the scale of the task. Although seizures of illegal drugs multiplied by 10 between 1987 and 1997, availability declined not one jot. We must maintain our commitment to Customs and Excise. Intelligence work is crucial to its success, and front-line resources are needed. I should be grateful if the Minister would comment on the threat to 1,200 jobs over the next three years. The supply of drugs to the United Kingdom seems greater than ever, and it is essential to maintain resources on the front line.
We support the Government's actions in seizing assets from drugs barons and channelling the money into action against drugs. I pay tribute to Strathclyde police and the
Scottish crime squad on their recent success in seizing heroin. I welcome the possible confiscation of illegal drug assets, proposals for which are being considered by a working group. Can the Minister inform us of the group's progress? When will it report?
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