BRUNSTROM'S CAMPAIGN OVER DRUGS

North Wales Police chief constable Richard Brunstrom has said he will
be "campaigning hard" for drugs such as heroin to be legalised.

In the past, Mr Brunstrom has said drugs laws are out of date and
that the police are engaged in a battle which they cannot win.

He is now campaigning for drugs to be legalised, and for the class A,
B and C system to be scrapped.

Mr Brunstrom's suggestions have already been criticised by some politicians.

In a report to be presented to the North Wales Police Authority next
Monday, he says the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 should be replaced by a
new "Substance Misuse Act".

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

The chair of the authority, councillor Ian Roberts, said there would
be a "full and frank debate" on the issue.

In the report Mr Brunstrom writes: "if policy on drugs is in future
to be pragmatic not moralistic, driven by ethics not dogma, then the
current prohibitionist stance will have to be swept away as both
unworkable and immoral....

"Such a strategy leads inevitably to the legalisation and regulation
of all drugs".

His report was prepared in response to the HM Government Consultation
paper "Drugs: Our community, your say", and the forthcoming Welsh
Assembly Government consultation on the all Wales substance misuse strategy.

The Transform Drug Policy Foundation (TDPF), which describes itself
as a charitable think-tank and says drug prohibition is the major
cause of drug-related harm to individuals, communities and nations,
welcomed Mr Brunstrom's report.

Director Danny Kushlick said: "We are absolutely delighted at Mr
Brunstrom's paper.

"The chief constable has displayed great leadership and imagination
in very publicly calling for a drug policy that replaces the evident
failings of prohibition with a legal system of regulation and control
for potentially dangerous drugs".

But MP for Alyn and Deeside Mark Tami said claiming the legalising of
heroin to be the only way forward was "blinkered and dangerous".

He said drugs policy was not "black and white" and a more considered
approach had to be taken.

He said: "As 280,000 Class A drug users are responsible for half of
all crime, taking the risk of legalising such a dangerous drug is
foolhardy and I would not wish to gamble so much on the health and
wellbeing of our children."

'Deprivation And Poverty'

Alyn and Deeside AM Carl Sergeant said a more sustainable solution
would be to tackle the causes of drug abuse.

He said: "Drug use is strongly linked to deprivation and poverty,
which is why so much money has been invested in lifting people -
particularly children - out of poverty."

Mr Brunstrom's comments come as Conwy Council's cabinet is preparing
to discuss plans for a needle exchange machine which the force want
installed in Colwyn Bay.