THE GOVERNMENT'S ATTEMPTS TO TACKLE DRUGS TRADE DO NOT WORK, SAYS REPORT

Police and customs are fighting a losing battle against the illegal
drugs trade despite billions of pounds being spent every year on
fighting it and taking offenders to court, according to a new report.

The UK Drugs Commission found that traditional crime-fighting tactics
are simply not working and that the UKP5.3billion British drugs market
was "too fluid" for law enforcement agencies to deal with.

In 2005/06, the Government spent UKP380million just on reducing supply
in England, the report says, while the annual cost to the criminal
justice system of dealing with Class A drug alone is more than UKP4 billion.

Tim McSweeney, one of the authors of the independent report, said: "We
were struck by just how little evidence there is to show that the
hundreds of millions of pounds spent on UK enforcement each year has
made a sustainable impact and represents value for money."

High-profile swoops on "drugs factories" and significant convictions
of leading dealers had failed to have a noticeable impact on supply,
due to the industry's ability to adapt quickly to disruption, the
report said.

The report showed that the price of cocaine has halved in some areas
since 2000 while heroin has fallen in price by 35 per cent as the
streets have become flooded with drugs.

A crackdown, which saw seizures of class A drugs more than double
between 1996 and 2005 to nearly 40,000, has had little impact on the
supply of or demand for drugs.

An estimated 60 to 80 pc of all drugs would need to be regularly
removed from the streets in order to put major traffickers out of
business, the report warned.

Seizure rates on this scale have never been achieved in Britain or
anywhere else, with an estimated 12 pc of heroin and 9 pc of cocaine
in Britain being impounded between 1996 and 2005.

Last year 1.5 tonnes of heroin and 4.4m ectsasy tablets were seized by
the Serious Organised Crime Agency, according to the report.

But each year, 20 tonnes of heroin, 18 tonnes of cocaine and 16 tonnes
of crack change hands on the British drugs market, while 412 tonnes of
cannabis and 60 million ecstasy tablets are thought to be bought and
sold.

Dealers simply reduce purity to maintain their profit margins, the
Commission, an independent charity consisting of experts in drug
treatment, medical research, policing and public policy, said.

The report called for more resources to be devoted to reducing the
"collateral damage" of drugs on communities, by tackling gang violence
and prostitution. Its authors say this would have a greater impact on
the drugs trade than traditional hauls.

Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary said: "After a decade in
office, this report shows the true extent of Labour's failure on drugs.

"We need a zero-tolerance approach to drugs, from our shores to our
streets. This report highlights the government's failure to curb
demand or prevent supply. It strengthens the case for a dedicated
Border Police Force to stem the flow of drugs into Britain.

"But the government should also answer our calls to extend
abstinence-based rehabilitation to help get addicts off drugs for good."

Responding to the report, a Home Office spokesman said that seizures
were only part of the Government's approach to fighting drug crime.

He said: "Many of the report's recommendations are already being
implemented. Our drugs strategy encompasses enforcement, prevention,
education and treatment."

He added that "intervention" programmes were seeing 1,000 offenders
each week move into drug treatment.