Layla Remeikis 26th June 2015
Police and Crime Commissioner’s Drugs Summit: Summary Report
The Derbyshire Drugs Summit, entitled ‘Time to Talk about Drugs Policy’, was principally presented with the purpose of encouraging listeners to understand the arguments for and against the legalisation or decriminalisation of drugs in the UK. The conference was organised by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Derbyshire, Alan Charles, whose goal was to ultimately convince his audience that the current UK drugs policy, the ‘Misuse of Drugs Act, 1971’ is outdated and in need of a review. Throughout the conference, several speakers gave their opinions on the UK drugs policy, alluding to the influence of changes to drugs laws elsewhere in the world, focusing mainly on issues such as prohibition, education, policing and health.
Introduction
The conference was initiated by Alan Charles, who began by talking about the life of the author Elizabeth Burton-Phillips, whose sons were affected by severe heroin addiction, leading to her writing the book and play ‘Mum, Can You Lend Me Twenty Quid?’ He then went on to talk about the late Amy Winehouse and the publicity that her fatal drug addiction received, leading to the establishment of the ‘Winehouse Foundation’, which aims to protect young people from the effects of drug and alcohol misuse. Charles then went on to give statistics for the Derbyshire area; in 2010 – 2012, there were 93 drug-related deaths in the Derbyshire county, and in the North Derbyshire area during December 2013, there were 45 drug-related arrests. He stressed the importance of treating each drugs case individually, while bearing in mind that they involve people that we can help, rather than just statistical data that cannot be prevented.
Current UK Drugs Policy
The first guest speaker was Dr Liz Austin, a principal lecturer in Criminology at Sheffield Hallam University, who spoke about the current drugs legislation in the UK, as well as other alternative models from overseas. She began by explaining a brief history of drug usage, and spoke about how upper classes self-medicated for medical purposes only, and that recreational drug use has augmented seemingly alongside criminalisation of drug taking – an extraordinary yet factual concept. In the 1960s, global drug prevalence increased dramatically, sparking Nixon’s renowned 1971 ‘War on Drugs’, which additionally influenced the UK’s drug prohibition.
Dr Austin went on to discuss the positives and negatives of drug-tackling strategies worldwide. Theoretically, prohibition is an idealised approach, which aims to protect the public, allows for the controlled administering of drugs (i.e. prescription drugs), and adheres to a simple legal framework, such as the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1971. However, prohibition is evidently failing to deter users; the legal framework is now forty-four years out of date, intoxication demands are still high, control boundaries between ‘legal highs’ and illegal drugs, for example, cannabis, are blurred, and no legalisation means that substances can’t be regulated, e.g. the purity of heroin cannot be legally controlled. Austin explained that although the current UK legislation can lead to an extensive prison sentence in the worst cases, countries such as South East Asia are still exercising the death penalty for possession of drugs, while certain states in the USA, such as Colorado, are beginning to decriminalise a regulated supply of drugs like marijuana. She reasoned that although decriminalisation suggests that drug use is acceptable, which could potentially encourage increased use, decreased prohibition would mean that addicts would be able to receive more support due to fewer criminal sanctions, police perception would be improved as police would have more positive relationships with users, and the fewer legal costs from prohibition would mean that the economy would be positively affected as well.
In reference to the HM Government Drug Strategy (2010) and the Psychoactive Substances Bill (2015), Dr Austin explained the importance of language when referring to drug users. Stigma and discrimination against drug users cannot be controlled due to widespread use of terms such as ‘addicts’ and ‘drug abuse’ – particularly when addressing young people about drugs, the language used is an important factor to consider.
Policing
The second talk of the day was presented by Mick Creedon, Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary, who spoke about the effect of drugs on policing in the county. He explained that the rate of reported crime (victimisation) in Derbyshire has reduced significantly since 2002, however, the rate of unreported crime, such as substance misuse, is unknown, and has the potential to cause more harm. Because substance misuse is illegal, it is unregulated, so has an immense impact on crime, the public, and local resources – all of which are related to policing. Creedon stated that the Office for National Statistics reported that the UK drugs market is worth £4.4 billion; this was reported in an apparently positive light and compared somewhat to the alcohol industry, in the sense that when controlled, alcohol consumption can be healthy, but costs the police superfluous time and money when misused. He specified that on the surface, successful drugs policing was arresting the dealers and confiscating their assets, yet the dealing still continues.
Mick Creedon concluded his presentation with the question; ‘Does prohibition work?’ He explained that while drugs prohibition is in operation, it provides an opportunity for organised crime, as was the case in the USA in the 1970s. Since Nixon’s instigation of the War on Drugs, the number of American prison inmates grew substantially, the government spent around $1.5 trillion on combatting the drugs trade, hospital admissions for drugs-related issues increased enormously, and the rate of addiction among American citizens did not change. Finally, Creedon outlined what he believed to be the real duties of the police in today’s society; to prevent and reduce crime, to protect vulnerable people, to attack criminality, and to provide reassurance to the innocent members of society.
The Future of Drugs Policy
Ron Hogg, Police and Crime Commissioner for Durham, subsequently addressed the future of the UK’s drugs policy, given the ineffectiveness of the current policy in place. Like Dr Liz Austin, he used the example of the state of Colorado in America, where it is now legal to be in possession of drugs for personal use, and to own up to six marijuana plants. This relatively new legislation has had little or no effect on crime rates within the state; the main difference being that there are now fewer minor arrests taking place. Hogg proposed the idea of issuing a drugs test upon arrest to identify just how many crimes are thought to be drug-related in Derbyshire. He also emphasised the importance of working more closely with the National Health Service in future, in order to help addicts with treatment and prevent reoffending. As a final point, he used the example of Durham Police’s ‘Diversion’ scheme, which works with addicted female offenders over an eight-to-ten week basis to identify the cause of their offending and offer support with their treatment. Statistically, 62% of offenders who took part in the scheme did not reoffend, while 64% of females who did not take part reoffended again.
Perceptions of Drugs
The first speaker who focused on public perception of drugs in society was Steve Holme from the Crime and Intelligence Unit, Derbyshire Constabulary. He began by pointing out that the public fail to recognise major drug-related arrests because they are only faced with low-level users and suppliers. Therefore, to most, it may seem as though the police are neglecting the drugs problem in the county, without considering the fact that the police have other, more pressing priorities to take into account. Holme then went on to highlight the stereotyping with regards to certain drugs and certain behaviours; stereotypically, arrested burglars would claim that their actions were due to the influence of drugs, such as heroin, when in fact, it is likely that their addiction to heroin was a secondary effect of the ‘burglar’ lifestyle that they adopted earlier. He then explained that currently, users of drugs like heroin are ‘written off’ by the authorities, as addicts are prescribed heroin or methadone to prevent them reoffending. He described this irrational process as, ‘treating the illness by prescribing what is causing the illness’ in the first place.
Secondly, Tim Allin, an ex-heroin addict and pioneer of the drugs campaign ‘Stay True’ spoke about perceptions of drugs from the perspective of young people. He opened by telling his story, including his involvement in drug taking and selling as a teenager, his period of recovery, and the effects of peer pressure on younger generations. He explained that problems with drugs arise when young people feel isolated and their coping mechanism becomes substance abuse, which his campaign aims to challenge. Allin believes that prevention in the form of education-focused learning is the most effective way of tackling drugs, and ‘Stay True’ run what he describes as ‘non-professional decision-making sessions’ in schools, which have so far proven to be very successful.
Health
The final session of the conference was delivered by Derek Ward, Professor of Public Health for the NHS, who spoke about the role of healthcare in relation to drugs. He feels strongly that the current focus on treatment rather than prevention is wrong and should be reversed in terms of both drugs and alcohol. Ward explained that drugs can damage health in a variety of ways; physically, drugs can cause cardiovascular disease and many cancers, and mentally, drugs can be responsible for personality disorders and depression. Mental health problems can be causal, associated, or consequential in relation to drugs, and often go unnoticed as once addicted, the user is ‘dehumanised’ in the eyes of the public. Financially, drug addiction and treatment costs the government billions of pounds annually; according to Ward, drug addiction costs £15.4 billion per year, primarily due to treatment costs, legal costs, and unemployment. He stated that for every £1 invested in treatment, £2.50 is saved in societal costs.
To conclude his presentation, Derek Ward outlined the four key factors that the NHS consider with regards to drugs; prevention to promote a drug free environment, acting in response to new drugs, responding to older drug users, and factoring in behaviours of users. With these factors in mind, the NHS are striving to work within the local government to focus on ‘building recovery’ and provide a wrap-around service for individual cases, including help with housing, education and employment.
Conclusions
During the afternoon session, the above issues were debated in more depth, and speakers were questioned by listeners about the current UK drugs policy, as well as potential future changes to the policy. Almost unanimously, audience members agreed that the Misuse of Drugs Act (1971) was in need of immediate review, to the extent that the decriminalisation of drugs in the UK could be an appropriate route for the government to take in the future. This is supported by evidence of successful decriminalisation overseas in countries such as Portugal and the USA, who have seen a reduction in crime rates and government spending since legalising certain substances. Decriminalisation additionally allows the government to impose certain regulations, for example, substance purity or sale restrictions, and makes treatment more accessible, which will further protect drug users from the harm, discrimination and prosecution currently posed by the UK’s policy on drugs.