Top cop argues for drugs decriminalisation
Durham’s chief constable puts the case for the decriminalisation of drugs. Drug money fuels most criminal gangs. And can’t we find a better way to help addicts?
In the experience of Mike Barton, Chief Constable of Durham, most criminal gangs make their money by selling drugs.
“In my force area we have 43 organised crime groups on our radar,” he wrote in the Observer this Sunday.
“Most of them have their primary source of income in illicit drug supply; all of them are involved in some way,” he says.
“Not all crime gangs raise income through selling drugs, but in my experience most of them do.”
Cutting the cash to crime
Cutting this money flow would help fight crime says Constable Barton – and that’s one of the reasons why he is suggesting Britain decriminalises Class A drugs and creates a legal channel for selling drugs to addicts. Possibly through the NHS.
The argument has been put before, but coming from one of the top crimefighter, the Observer claim it will reignite the argument over whether the war on drugs is working.
The other problem drugs cause the police is the problem with addicts: regularly arresting them takes up police time and does nothing for people with drug addictions. Barton writes: “addicts… need to be treated, cared for and encouraged to break the cycle of addiction. They do not need to be criminalised.”
“If the war on drugs means trying to reduce the illicit supply of drugs, then it has comprehensively failed” – Chief Constable of Durham
And his third reason – criminalising drugs has not stopped the sale or use of drugs in Britain – Barton says, and a different approach is needed: “if the war on drugs means trying to reduce the illicit supply of drugs, then it has comprehensively failed”.
Alternatives to the war on drugs
Barton’s alternative is a tightly controlled legal channel for the sale of drugs to people with addiction problems combined with treatment to help them break their cycles. And he wants a clampdown on the sale of alcohol too.
“Is it sensible that in County Durham, you can buy two litres of strong cider for just £1.99? I suspect it has never seen an apple, but is more akin to industrial ethanol. Social tolerance of excessive drinking has become far too great.”
Constable Barton has previously expressed progressive views on crime and punishment. On his appointment to the Durham post earlier this year he made a strong case for restorative justice to local paper the Evening Chronicle:
“Instead of simply handcuffing them and locking them up, we want to get inside their heads, we want to make them become aware of the consequences of their actions.”