POLICE CALL FOR SOFTER LINE ON HEROIN

BRITAIN's chief constables call today for heroin and cocaine users to be
sent for treatment rather than prosecuted.

They also intend to take a much more relaxed attitude towards people caught
with small amounts of cannabis -- which is to be downgraded to a Class C
drug this year -- adapting the "softly softly" approach pioneered in South
London.

The radical change in the police attitude to the handling of drug abuse is
in line with the approach expected from the Commons Home Affairs Select
Committee, which is to report on the subject this month. It is expected to
call for cannabis to be further downgraded, along with Ecstasy, and for a
much greater emphasis on treatment for heroin users.

The chief constables are, however, against the downgrading of Ecstasy to a
Class B drug and remain opposed to the decriminalisation of drugs, saying
in a national policy statement that such a move would be a recipe for a
crime wave, with "drug tourists" flocking into the country.

They are also against the creation of so-called "shooting galleries" in
which heroin users can inject the drug in designated safe areas.

The Association of Chief Police Officers' statement says that it looks
forward to the time when those who appear in court for misuse of Class A
drugs have immediate access to treatment. This, it says, should sometimes
be a real alternative to a caution or conviction.

The police chiefs believe that too many addicts are being taken to court
when they need medical help and say that it it is time society recognised
that use of Class A drugs was often a health rather than a criminal issue.

Commander Andy Hayman, the Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner who
prepared the policy statement, denied "going soft" on drugs, but said:
"Greater use of treatment is the real option. Use of Class A drugs is a
health issue but we are giving a punitive response".

His statement was welcomed as a breakthrough by Labour MPs, who have
campaigned for a change in attitude to drug misuse, but the Conservatives
expressed doubts.

Paul Flynn, Labour MP for Newport West, said: "This is a major
breakthrough. We are in an extraordinary situation now where the debate is
being led by the police and public opinion and it is the politicians who
are being dragged along.

"They have lacked the courage to enact reform. But the evidence is crystal
clear that 30 years of the harshest drugs policy has given us the greatest
drug problem and the greatest drug crimes. Political parties are in denial
about this."

Mr Flynn pointed to figures showing that since the introduction of harsh
penalties in the Misuse of Drugs Act of 1971, the number of heroin and
cocaine addicts in Britain had soared from 1,000 to 280,000.

A head of steam has been slowly building behind a change in drugs policy.
The debate has been heightened by the controversy surrounding Commander
Brian Paddick, the former Lambeth police chief who pioneered a policy of
confiscation coupled with a verbal warning for cannabis use so that he
could focus resources more on hard drugs and street crime.

He has been credited with bringing down the rate of street robbery in
London 's most crime-ridden borough, although he has been moved to another
post pending an investigation into claims that he allowed cannabis to be
used in his home.

Now other forces intend to adapt his approach, once David Blunkett has
downgraded cannabis to a Class C drug, and to issue "flexible" guidelines
to their officers. Police would be expected to caution, arrest or prosecute
someone suspected of dealing in cannabis but otherwise take a more lenient
approach. They would still be allowed to arrest anyone found with cannabis
near a school.

However, Ann Widdecombe, the former Shadow Home Secretary, voiced doubts
about the new approach, saying: "I don't see the two (treatment and
prosecution) as mutually exclusive."

The Home Office meanwhile insisted that it already put great emphasis on
treatment. A spokeswoman said: "There are excellent drug programmes in
prisons. The Government is putting a lot of resources and energy into
getting problematic class A drug users into treatment to break the cycle of
addiction and crime.

"The National Treatment Agency was set up last year and we have increased
funds for treatment from ?234million this year to ?400million next year. We
have a number of programmes to direct offenders into treatment."