* Clearly there is a link between the use of certain drugs and crime.
However, there is also a strong link between poverty, age, gender and
crime. As a solicitor I am deeply concerned at the proposal to
introduce drug testing for criminal suspects and that information then
being used to deny bail.

I believe police officers, often with the best intentions, would use
such a tool to apply unlawful pressure upon suspects to make
confessions. An officer dealing with a known drug user could quite
clearly threaten a suspect with incarceration without trial for up to
a year, whether guilty or not, on the basis that they will be denied
bail on the results of a drug test. Many people are remanded in
custody for up to a year before trial, although one-third of those
will be found not guilty.

Given such a stark choice, I believe that vulnerable persons will
confess to offences, whether guilty or not. This proposed measure is
an attack upon the most basic legal rights: the right to be treated as
innocent until proven guilty and the presumption of bail. Should this
be introduced, it will undoubtedly lead to serious and widespread
abuse of criminal suspects.

DAVID ENRIGHT
St Albans
Herts