POLICE CHIEF ATTACKED OVER CALL TO LEGALISE DRUGS

The controversial Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom, has been
accused by his fellow chief officers of advocating a "counsel of
despair" in calling for the abolition of current drugs law and a
move toward the legalisation of banned substances including heroin
and cocaine.

Mr Brunstrom's assertion that the Government's current "war on
drugs" has failed won some support.

But there was little sympathy for his advocacy of the legalisation
and regulation of "all harmful drugs" as a way of reducing the
damage they cause.

The criticism was led by Ken Jones, president of the Association of
Chief Police Officers (Acpo), of which he is one of the most
outspoken members.

Mr Jones said: "These are his personal views, to which he is entitled."

He added: "Acpo does not agree with the repeal of the Misuse of
Drugs Act 1971" - the current law - "or the legalization of drugs.
This is arguably a counsel of despair. The reduction of harm caused
by drugs to our neighbourhoods is a priority for chief officers
across the UK.

"Moving to total legalization would, in our view, greatly exacerbate
the harm to people in this country, not reduce it. It simply does
not make sense to legitimize dangerous narcotic substances which
would then have the potential to ruin even more lives and our neighbourhoods.

"Acpo not aware of any nation which has managed to contain the
ravages caused by the universally legal -- and regulated - supply of
tobacco and alcohol to people."

Mr Brunstrom - who has also generated headlines with his support for
speed cameras and tough stance against speeding motorists -
presented the drugs paper to his local police authority, which
backed it and agreed to send it to the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith,
as part of a national consultation on drugs reform.

Mr Brunstrom has been calling for a number of years for a major
overhail of current drugs laws. He argues that current policy is
based on an "unwinable" war on drugs and is "a wholly outdated and
thoroughly repugnant moralistic stance based upon rhetoric and dogma
rather than a rational (and more ethical) philosophy."

Drug addicts should be treated and not morally demonised, he says.

He dismisses the current ABC classification for drugs which is
"indefensible, both legally and ethically...(and) arbitrary, and
subject to politically-motivated manipulation." In its place he
wants to see "a new, scientifically-based 'Hierarchy of Harm' -
which should include tobacco and alcohol - and "it should be
decoupled from criminal penalties.

"This logical, rational and consistent approach will inexorably and
inevitably lead to the legalisation and regulation of all harmful
drugs, in place of the current policy of proscription and
enforcement for some drugs and the legal regulation of others,
selected subjectively."

Mr Brunstrom said his report was not a "crusade or proactive - it is
a response based on a degree of radicalism".

He was not, he said, "proposing an anarchic free-for-all."

The Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Nick Clegg, said:
"Richard Brunstrom is right to say that the Government's drug policy
is a spectacular failure.

"However, full legalisation is not the way forward. What is needed
is a more logical and evidence-based approach that is not constantly
altered depending on the whims of various Home Secretaries."

Mark Tami, MP for Alyn and Deeside, said: "As Class A drug users are
responsible for half of all crime, taking the risk of legalizing
such a dangerous drug is foolhardy and I would not wish to gamble so
much on the health and wellbeing of our children."