RESEARCH REBUTS IDEA THAT DRUG USERS COMMIT CRIME

A study by the Metropolitan police into the relationship between drugs and
crime has cast doubt on Home Office policy and led senior officers to
question the effectiveness of their strategies. According to the research,
two recent crackdowns on drug dealing in the capital had no impact on crime
levels, challenging the assumption that users commit offences to sustain
their habits. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Tim Goodwin revealed details of
the study yesterday and warned that it was wrong to assume that "drugs
equals crime". He added: "It could be that criminals use drugs.

We have been unable to find that by taking significant activity against
drugs, you can impact on crime." The study was conducted for the Met by
Mike Hough, of the South Bank University in London. Mindful of the
sensitivity of the subject so close to a general election, the force has
decided not to publish the results in full. The study will be forwarded to
the Home Office, however, and the Met has pledged to undertake further
research. The study looked at crime patterns in London in the aftermath of
two big operations against drug dealers. The first last December involved
rounding up known drug dealers in 10 inner city boroughs. Three months ago,
officers struck again, this time against dealers across the capital.

In all, 2,000 class A (hard) drug dealers were arrested.

The impact of the arrests on the drugs market and the levels of crime
became the focus of the work. "We looked at how quickly the drugs market
reformed, whether there was an impact on the availability of drugs and if
there was an impact on crime," said Mr Goodwin. "The general conclusions
were that drug prices did not go up, availability did not go down, and
there was not much impact on crime."

He said that an evaluation of the data had led him to question the
assumption that "drugs created crime", rather than "criminals use drugs".

The Met, however, said the study was a relatively small piece of research
and that it did not prove that government policy was wrong. "We did not
prove that it's right either," said Mr Goodwin. "We are uncovering a great
deal of intelligence about criminal activity."

Professor Hough said yesterday that his evaluation was based on information
gathered from the police, drug workers and drug users in four boroughs. The
Home Office said that it could not comment on the Metropolitan police's
research, but confirmed that linking drug use to crime was the cornerstone
of government strategy. Earlier this year, Jack Straw, the home secretary,
pledged to "break the vicious circle of drugs and crime at all levels". He
added: "Research shows the extent to which class A drugs continue to fuel a
significant amount of property crime."