BLAIR DECLARES ALL-OUT WAR ON DRUGS MENACE

TONY BLAIR will today signal a major crackdown on drugs, with longer jail
terms for pushers and barons to be accompanied by a massive programme of
treatment for addicts.

The Premier is acutely worried by the law and order threat posed by an
estimated 100,000 addicts, who are believed to be responsible for about
half the crime in the country - thieving to fund and feed their habit.

He is concerned as a parent that unless firm action is taken to get the
addicts and suppliers out of circulation - with rehabilitation, jail, or
both - no family can be guaranteed immunity from the risk of drugs.

In a speech to Women's Institute representatives at Wembley Arena today, Mr
Blair will promise that next month's three-year public spending statement
will include a large-scale cash boost for treatment and rehabilitation of
addicts.

A senior source said last night that hardcore addicts were unemployable and
action must be taken to break their habit, get them back in society and out
of the cycle of crime.

Mr Blair's theme will be that society is founded on a mix of rights,
responsibilities and opportunities, with no barriers blocking promotion of
talent.

As part of that, he believes that while the Government has a responsibility
to offer treatment and rehabilitation to drug addicts, it also has a duty
to ensure that the suppliers suffer the longest possible jail terms, as
well as the confiscation of property and assets.

In a speech tomorrow, Home Secretary Jack Straw will lay down the law on
punishing suppliers. A Drugs Bill, to form part of the programme for the
next Parliamentary year, will not only include hard-hitting powers of
property confiscation, it will also enhance the power of police and Customs
to break the supply chain.

It will ensure that the length of jail sentences on drug barons and their
suppliers reflects the damage drugs cause to society at large. The drive
against drugs will be reinforced next week by a report from the Prime
Minister's Performance and Innovation Unit, which will set out ways
suppliers' property and profits can be seized.

Mr Blair is determined to ensure that the threat to society posed by drugs
is reflected by the criminal justice system's deterrence against
drug-dealers. He wants the punishment to reflect his abhorrence of the
crime, while cajoling the dealers' victims into well-funded rehabilitation.

"It is about treatment and rehabilitation, yes," Mr Blair's spokesman said
last night, "but it is also about being very, very tough on those who are
peddling drugs and the drugs industry."

Today's speech will deliver some of the political reflections Mr Blair has
pulled together during his fortnight's paternity leave at Chequers.

Confronting old Labour critics who argue that he is sacrificing the party's
basic beliefs, Mr Blair will say that the Government's programme of change
and modernisation for everything from the NHS to welfare is based on old
values of rights and responsibilities.In place of hierarchy and prejudice,
Mr Blair will say he wants to build a "meritocracy in which everyone has
the chance to make the most of themselves".