INSTANT DRUGS TESTS ON CRIME SUSPECTS

SUSPECTS arrested in large parts of Liverpool face instant drug tests and
will be forced into treatment if they test positive, under a new crackdown
announced yesterday.

The Liverpool North and Liverpool South command units have been picked to
pilot a tough new approach to snap the link between drugs and street crime.

At present, anyone arrested in those two areas can be drug tested if they
are formally charged. If positive, they get the option of treatment in
return for a lesser sentence.

Now Tony Blair has unveiled plans for tests at the point of arrest for a
number of "trigger" offences,, including burglary, car crime and theft.

Anyone with Class A drugs in their bloodstream - heroin,, crack and cocaine
- - would be forced to accept treatment for their habit or face an
unspecified "penalty".

Mr Blair said: "We are offering a choice. If you are a drug addict engaged
in crime, you will be offered a way out through treatment and help.

"If you refuse that offer, it will be made more difficult for you at every
stage in the criminal justice system."

However, the crackdown requires Parliament to pass fresh legislation -
throwing it into doubt if a general election is held, as expected, next May.

Other measures in the Drugs Bill, published yesterday, will allow judges to
hand down harsher sentences to dealers caught selling drugs near schools,
or using children as couriers.

And courts will be able to assume someone is a dealer if they are caught
with more drugs than they would need for their own personal use.

The Drugs Bill will also:

* Allow magistrates to remand people suspected of swallowing packages of
drugs into police custody for up to an extra 192 hours, so the packages
will pass through their system.

* Allow drug counselling orders to be handed out alongside anti-social
behaviour orders, to target drug-using yobs.

* Allow police to enter crack houses to issue closure notices.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said crime was falling faster in the existing
pilot areas than in the rest of the country, although the Home Office could
not provide figures for Liverpool.

However, a leaked Downing Street report has warned the new get-tough
approach will fail to cut drug-related crime.

Street prices would be go up - forcing users to steal more to fund their
habits.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that 70% of treatment programmes for
criminal addicts in Merseyside had to be abandoned because the addicts
failed to turn up, or committed further crimes.

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More English Children Have Used Cannabis

MORE schoolchildren in England have experimented with cannabis than in any
other country in Europe, a report said yesterday.

News of the extent of pot-smoking among English teenagers came on the day
ministers unveiled new measures to crack down on dealers who sell drugs
near schools.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) also
said the UK had the joint highest number of cocaine users, alongside Spain.

Between 5% and 7% of people aged 15 to 24 in the UK and Spain admitted to
using cocaine recently.

The study said 42% of boys and 38% of girls aged 15 in England had tried
cannabis, compared with fewer than 10% in Greece, Malta and Norway. England
also had the highest number of 15-year-olds who were heavy dope users.