POLICE CHIEF CALLS FOR HEROIN TO BE AVAILABLE ON THE NHS

Heroin should be prescribed to long-term addicts to prevent them from
committing crimes to feed their habits, the head of Britain's police
chiefs has suggested.

Ken Jones, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers,
also admitted that current policing tactics are failing to combat a
"hardcore minority" of heroin addicts.

He called for a political consensus on the issue of heroin
prescription on the NHS, and a more "realistic" approach to tackling
long-term drug abuse. Mr Jones argued that by prescribing heroin the
police would be able significantly to reduce overall crime and
prevent deaths from overdoses.

The former chief constable of Sussex is the most senior police
officer to give his support to heroin prescription and his
controversial view is likely to be criticised by organisations
opposed to any form of drug liberalisation.

Mr Jones, who is head of the organisation that represents the most
senior ranks of the 43 police forces in England and Wales, said: "You
need to understand there is a hard core, a minority, who nevertheless
commit masses of crime to feed their addiction. We have got to be
realistic - I have looked into the whites of these people's eyes and
many have no interest whatsoever in coming off drugs. We have to find
a way of dealing with them, and licensed prescription is definitely
something we should be thinking about.

The most common treatment for heroin abuse in Britain is methadone, a
synthetic drug similar to heroin but less addictive. Heroin
prescription is used in Switzerland and the Netherlands, where it has
been credited with turning offenders away from crime.

In the UK only a few hundred of the 40,000 registered heroin addicts
are currently being prescribed heroin as part of a limited
experiment. Heroin addicts commit on average 432 crimes a year,
costing a total of UKP45,000, according to research.

Mr Jones's organisation, Acpo, has said officially that it will await
the outcome of the current limited trial before making a formal
policy statement.

But Mr Jones said: "I was a drugs officer and we have to be
realistic. There is a hardcore minority who are not in anyway shape
or form anxious to come off drugs. They think 'I am going to go out
there and steal, rob, burgle and get the money to buy it'. What are
we going to do - say 'OK we are going to try and contain this by
normal criminal justice methods' and fail, or are we going to look at
doing something different? Start being a bit more innovative. It is
about looking at things in a different way without turning away
completely from the current position."

He added that drug prices in some areas of the UK had reached a
historic low, which he conceded was a good indicator that drugs were
readily available.

He said: "I am not in any shape or form a legaliser, but what I am
concerned with is that we have to shape up to some tough realities.
We don't have enough treatment places for those who want to go on
them. What we need is a cross-party consensus which considers the
overwhelming public view to be tough on the roots of drugs, as well
as treating its victims."

Studies on heroin prescription in the Netherlands and Switzerland
found significant reductions in illicit drug use among those
receiving the treatment. Both the Swiss and Dutch reported a drop in
the crimes committed by their addicts.

The widespread prescription of heroin in Britain was phased out in
the 1960s. GPs in England and Wales have the legal power to prescribe
heroin, but do so extremely rarely.

The UK has 327,466 hardcore "problem drug users" who are regularly
using either heroin, crack or cocaine. A report by Glasgow University
last year found that fewer than 4 per cent of heroin addicts beat
their habit with methadone. There are an estimated 40,000 problem
heroin users using methadone.

Mr Jones said that he knew of one region where many years ago doctors
had prescribed heroin to try to deal with problem addicts. "There are
junkies who are alive today who would have been dead now," he said.
"Their lives are stable, yes, their addiction is being maintained,
but far better they are being maintained than them trying to get
their fix off the street from crime. Heroin is an incredible
stimulator of crime and I think we are foolish if we don't acknowledge that."

On a separate issue, Mr Jones also called for the introduction of a
written constitution to remove any suggestion that the Government is
using the police for political purposes. He argued that without
written rules the police service will always be vulnerable to the
suggestion that it is being manipulated by ministers at the Home Office.

He argued: "There used to be much more clear water between us and the
Government, there has to be for public confidence to remain. The
minute that the public perception is that we are now being
politically directed by the government of the day, then some of that
confidence will leak away.

"There is the unease sometimes that we are being misused, but I don't
see any evidence of that. If there was a much clearer demarcation in
terms of a constitution then I think we would be less vulnerable to
those suggestions.

"But people have nothing to refer to, if someone from a particularly
political persuasion says why are we doing this, or that, then I
would like to be able to refer to a written constitution."

UK drug facts

40,000 addicts are registered in the UK

200,000 addicts are estimated to be living in the UK

UKP30-UKP100: price per gram of heroin on the streets of the UK

2,200kg of heroin was seized and taken out of the supply chain in
Britain in 2005-06

744 people died of heroin-related causes in 2003-04

200 deaths related to methadone, the heroin substitute, in 2003-04
(Source: ONS)

90 per cent of heroin in the UK comes from Afghanistan

12,687 deaths were related to drug misuse by males from 1993 to 2004

3,401 deaths in 1993-2004 among females, with heroin/ morphine most
commonly mentioned substances