BLAIR'S SHAM WAR ON DRUGS

LABOUR'S pledge to crack down on drug dealers was exposed as a sham last night.

Official Home Office figures showed that in five years only two
criminals convicted of supplying class A drugs received a maximum sentence.

Between 2000 and 2004, 35,855 people were convicted of supplying the
most serious drugs ­ cocaine, heroin, crack, Ecstasy, LSD and methadone.

But just two were handed a life term, the maximum sentence in England
and Wales.

In the same period, only two of the 18,186 convicted of supplying
class B drugs ­ such as amphetamines ­ were handed the maximum
14-year jail term.

And none of the 3,668 people convicted of dealing in class C drugs ­
which include cannabis and steroids ­ received the maximum 14 years.

Last night Conservative MP David Davies, who uncovered the figures in
a Commons question to Home Secretary John Reid, described the lack of
maximum sentences as "an appalling travesty".

Mr Davies, MP for Monmouth, said: "This Government said we would be
getting tough on crime and people peddling class A drugs.

"Cocaine, crack, heroin, LSD and Ecstasy ruin everyone's lives that
come into contact with them and dealers who profit from misery must
be given the strongest sentences possible.

"But clearly the facts show this is just not happening because this
Government is soft on these criminals.

"We're spending millions of pounds and losing soldiers' lives to
destroy poppy fields in Afghanistan yet back home they are being
betrayed by soft jail terms.

"It is not just our citizens' health that is affected by drugs.
Addicts cause so much of our crime as they steal and rob to feed their habit.

"Repeat offenders and dealers must be imprisoned. The cost of keeping
them in jail is nothing compared to the amount their criminality
costs vulnerable teenagers, families and elderly, all targets of crime.

"I have been the victim of a serial burglar who was stealing to feed
his habit. He struck as my wife and kids slept and I don't want
anyone to go through what we did."

The two class A drug dealers given life sentences were both convicted
of dealing in heroin.

No one jailed for peddling cocaine, Ecstasy, methadone or crack received life.

Pressure group DrugScope said life terms should be used when jailing
the big-time dealers.

Spokesman Harry Shapiro said judges should apply longer sentences to
"major international traffickers whose operation is protected by
extreme violence and intimidation".

The Home Office yesterday blamed the judges for the lack of maximum sentences.

A spokesman said: "Sentencing is a matter for the courts taking into
account the circumstances of the offence and the offender.

"Tackling class A drugs is a priority as they do the most harm to the
individual, to communities and society in the whole. The range of
sentences available to the courts includes a maximum life sentence,
which reflects our approach."

A Royal Courts of Justice spokeswoman said: "All sentencing decisions
reflect the full range of evidence presented to the court in that
case at that time."