BLAIR TAKES WAR ON DRUG DEALERS INTO EUROPE

THE Prime Minister will step up the fight against international
drug-dealing today with a hard-hitting speech in Edinburgh.

On his first visit to the Scottish Parliament, Tony Blair will call on
governments to raise their game with strict minimum sentences for
drug-dealing throughout Europe in a bid to eliminate any safe havens.

In a new departure on the drugs front, he will call on countries applying
for membership of the European Union to co-operate with established
European policy.

While the six applicants - Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia,
Cyprus, and Estonia - do not necessarily pose the greatest cross-border
problems, Mr Blair will urge them to adopt the minimum sentence policy.

There are plans in train for the richer European countries to support the
applicant countries in modernising their primitive drug detection systems.

As the Prime Minister focuses on an issue which can be tackled only with
international co-operation, he will insist the problem has to be addressed
at every level. In the 1990s, Customs and Excise officials proved that
Turkish traffickers had developed links to gang networks in Edinburgh,
Glasgow, and Liverpool.

While Turkey has flagged up interest in possible membership of the EU, it
remains on the fringes, but Mr Blair and his European counterparts will
hope that even Turkey will come under pressure from the pan-Europe
initiatives.

Mr Blair, who will be accompanied by drugs czar Keith Hellawell, whose writ
runs throughout the UK, has already discussed the proposals with the
president of the European Commission, and he has signalled his intention to
keep the fight against drugs high on the European agenda.

In a speech to members of the Scottish Parliament, the Prime Minister will
say that strict minimum penalties have to be introduced across Europe so
that dealers and smugglers know they face these penalties wherever they are.

Mr Blair will also urge the applicant countries to adopt European policy
since there is incontrovertible evidence that some of them are crucial
links in the drug trafficking chain.

While Class A drug dealers in the UK could be imprisoned for life, Class B
up to 14 years and Class C up to five years, in Austria professional
traffickers could get from one to 10 years.

In Belgium, dealers can get three to five years; in Denmark, up to two
years; and in France, up to five years, although the leader of a
trafficking group could get up to 30 years.

During his visit to the Parliament, the Prime Minister will have "explicit
praise" for the setting up of the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency as a
way of combatting drug abuse.

Scotland does have a serious "drug problem": 300 people still die annually
in Scotland from drugs abuse, and 40% of Scottish schoolchildren have
admitted to having experimented with drugs, but the Prime Minister will
explain why the battle has to extend across borders.

He will say that the only way the battle against drugs can be won is if
Scotland and England work together within the UK, if the UK co-operates
with Europe, and Europe co-operates with the rest of the world. Countries
cannot fight drug trafficking on their own.

The problem is deep-rooted, with heroin at its centre. Heroin or similar
morphine-type drugs accounted for 41% of drug-related deaths, and nearly
two-thirds of new arrivals at drug centres said heroin was their main or
secondary drug. While the Prime Minister will not shirk from the scale of
this problem, he will claim a Euro-wide initiative would dramatically
reduce it.

Along with Scottish Drugs Minister Angus MacKay, Mr Hellawell and the newly
appointed director of the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency, Mr Jim Orr, Mr
Blair will visit a residential drugs rehabilitation unit in Glasgow after
his trip to the Parliament.

The Prime Minister has come under fire from the Tories on the issue. Shadow
Home Secretary Anne Widdecombe accused the Government of letting 2000
convicted drug dealers out of prison on early release schemes in England.

She said: "While it is encouraging that Tony Blair is adopting our policy
of minimum mandatory sentences, it is less encouraging that he is lecturing
Europe before putting his own house in order. It is Labour's policy that
has led to the early release of 2000 convicted drug dealers."

The Prime Minister will be loathe to be drawn into the argument in Scotland
over the repeal of Section 28, but last night a System Three poll in his
Sedgefield constituency showing overwhelming opposition to the repeal
reminded him that the opposition was not confined to Scotland.