TARGETING DRUG TOURISTS

PEOPLE caught buying drugs in a town centre are to have their faces
published on posters.

Labour-run Lambeth council is expected to agree plans in October to
name and shame "drug tourists" who come to Brixton to buy illegal drugs.

It means people arrested and convicted for drug offences in the town
could be given Antisocial Behaviour Orders (Asbo) banning them from
the area as part of the council's new drug deterrence policy.

Their pictures will be published on posters and the council's
website,and circulated to the media as part of the hard-line
initiative to clean up Brixton.

Lambeth's cabinet member for community safety, Councillor Mark
Bennett, said: "For too long Brixton has had a reputation as a place
to buy drugs.

"People come here on buses, trains and the Victoria line to buy drugs
- - Brixton even features in some alternative tourist guides as the
place to get drugs.

"This administration is saying loud and clear that it is not
acceptable to buy and sell drugs anywhere in our borough. If we can
change our reputation we can drive this trade off our streets and
make our streets safer."

The policy will be given the go-ahead at the council's cabinet
meeting next month although full details of how the scheme will be
implemented have yet to be released.

But it is understood that people convicted of drug offences in
Brixton - especially those who live outside the area - will be
considered for a post-conviction Asbo.

Conditions of the Asbo could see people banned from the town centre
or given curfews. The council's Antisocial Behaviour Team will then
decide whether to publish details.

Vulnerable people with mental health problems or in need of help for
drug addictions will not be singled out to be named and shamed.

But people who come to Brixton to buy drugs and encourage the illegal
trade that blights the town will be considered for the poster treatment.

Cllr Bennett added: "We have been working on it since May last year
and have worked through all of the legal issues. We are hopeful it is
going to make a difference."

The poster plan is expected to begin around November.