EVERY DRUG ADDICT STEALS POUNDS 3,000 A WEEK

Prescribe Heroin Plea

CRIMINAL drug addicts steal or fence pounds 3,000 worth of goods a week
to feed their habit, it was revealed yesterday.

The users spend an average of pounds 300 a week on drugs, a Home Office
survey has revealed.

The study of 9,000 arrested addicts showed 84 per cent had previous
convictions and 56 per cent had used heroin in the last 30 days. A fifth
had taken crack.

Labour MP Paul Flynn attacked the present drug laws, blaming them for
the high level of drug related crime.

The drugs campaigner said: "To spend pounds 300 on drugs a user would
probably have to steal or fence pounds 3,000-worth of goods.

"The present situation is just madness. We have got to recognise that
heroin is not the problem, it is the prohibition of drugs which means
you cannot get a supply through a legal source.

"There is no question of a free-for-all, but we need to look at making
these drugs available in strictly controlled circumstances."

Home Office Minister Bob Ainsworth said that the survey "justified the
Government's increased investment in drug treatment programmes".

He told a conference in York: "Many people who have drug problems turn
to crime to fund their habit. Intervention will help them to deal with
their problem.

"In this way, the users have a real chance to turn their life around and
the community benefits from a reduction in drug-related crime."

But he said this does not mean the police going soft on drug-addicted
criminals. He said: "Hand in hand with tackling drug misuse must go
tackling the wide range of drug crimes, if we are to make our streets
safe."

Mr Ainsworth added there are now 330 anti-drug workers based in police
custody suites across England and Wales with the aim of encouraging
arrested drug users to take up treatment.

But Mr Flynn said he was pressing for a meeting with Home Secretary
David Blunkett to urge him to take a new look at drugs laws.

A Home Office source said: "There is no question of a relaxation in the
law." The Home Office took over responsibility for tackling drugs
problem from the Cabinet Office in Tony Blair's election shake-up of the
Government.