HARD DRUG DEALER ARRESTS DROP ALMOST 20% IN 3 YEARS IN LONDON

8.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 19th Jun 2005

Shocking new figures revealed today by the London Assembly Liberal Democrats show that the number of hard drug dealers arrested in London over the last three years has dropped by almost 20%.

The figures, taken from Mayoral Questions asked to the Mayor, show that in 2001 there were 2,384 people arrested for the supply, or intent to supply, Class A drugs such as heroin and cocaine. By 2004, this had fallen to 1,932 - a drop of 19%.

The latest figures from the British Crime Survey shows that London has the highest number of hard drug takers in the country, with more than 1 in twenty people having taken a Class A drug in the last year.

The Met Police estimate that in the first five months following the reclassification of cannabis to a Class C drug was in operation it saved police 14,620 hours of red tape. In 2003, Ministers said the change in the law was necessary to enable police to spend more time tackling class A drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine

London Assembly Liberal Democrat policing spokesperson, Graham Tope, said:-

"These new figures are deeply worrying. Serious questions must be asked why it is that hard drug use in London continues to rise yet the number of drug dealers caught continues to fall so dramatically.

"When cannabis was downgraded by the Home Office, Ministers promised that the extra time officers would have would mean that they could tackle hard drug dealers. This is clearly not happening.

"The Met Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, promised to clamp down on middle class 'dinner party' hard drug users, but without tackling drug dealers effectively there will be little chance of stemming the growing tide of drug abuse"

ENDS

Notes to editor

Figures can be seen below and are taken from the questions asked by the Liberal Democrats and published on the 1st June 2005. An age breakdown is available on request.

Drug use

Question No: 941 / 2005

Graham Tope

What is the total number of persons arrested for the supply or possession with intent to supply of (a) heroin (b) crack cocaine (c) all Class A drugs and (d) all Class B drugs (excluding cannabis prior to reclassification), in each of the calendar years since 2001, broken down by borough and age?

A FULL COPY OF THE STATISTICS BROKEN DOWN BY BOROUGH IS AVAILABLE BY E-MAILING RICHARD.STOKOE@LONDON.GOV.UK

· According to the British Crime Survey 2003/04:-

"Looking at use of Class A drugs, the 2003/04 BCS shows that 3.5% of the population reported having used a Class A drug in the past year. Again, those living in London had the highest proportion of drug users (5.5%), significantly higher than for England and Wales.."

Pages 30 and 81

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb0405.pdf

· According to the survey, cocaine use in England and Wales has doubled in the last decade.

According to an interview in the Sunday Times on the 6th February 2005, Sir Ian Blair said:-

"People think the price of a wrap of cocaine is 50 quid, but the cost is misery on estates here and a trail of blood back to Colombia. Someone has died to bring it to the dinner party. People who wouldn't dream of having non-organic vegetables don't notice the blood on their fingers.

"We are not going to burst through doors in Islington, but I do want to make people concerned that they might be buying drugs from a police officer. That would be interesting, wouldn't it?"

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-1471661,00.html

· In November 2004, an evaluation of the reclassification of cannabis to a Class C drug by the Met Police found that they had saved an estimated 14,620 policing hours and £423,980

http://www.mpa.gov.uk/committees/mpa/2004/041125/14.htm