Brown promises radical strategy to fight drugs (UK)

[Lunar Loops]

Well, SWIS wishes he were wrong, but he strongly suspects that this is merely a case of a new broom looking for a slightly different carpet to sweep the 'problems' under. No new approach likely here. Anyway, this from The Telegraph (UK):

Brown promises radical strategy to fight drugs

By John Steele, Crime Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:35am BST 20/06/2007





Gordon Brown promised a radical review of Britain's anti-drugs policies yesterday, as he pledged to extend drugs education into primary schools.
In his first major speech on law and order, Mr Brown - who will become Prime Minister this time next week - said information about drugs should reach children aged 10 and under.

Celebrity "role models" also had a part to play in helping to educate children about the risks of drug taking, he told Britain's most senior police officers at their annual conference in Manchester.

In his speech, to the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), Mr Brown made no mention of the Government's plan to release thousands of prisoners.

He did, however, promises chief constables there would be extra cash to build 8,000 more prison places for a system currently struggling with record numbers of inmates.
A decade after Tony Blair took power with promise to tackle drugs, Mr Brown made them a key part of his speech.
"We have put huge efforts into disrupting and reducing the supply of illegal drugs - but drug trafficking into and across Britain is still big business," he said.
It was time, he added, "for a radical review of our anti-drugs strategy. We will need to work with you in building the confidence of communities to name, shame and push out the dealers and the gangs.
"At the same time a new strategy needs to reach addicts earlier to get them into treatment. And drugs education needs to reach children at an earlier age in primary, as well as secondary schools, and to help families and communities protect them from the dealers and the gangs."
Neighbourhood policing teams, which are currently being established in more than 600 wards across England and Wales, should also play an enhanced role inside schools to help teachers keep pupils out of trouble, he said.
Much of the Chancellor's speech focused on his belief that citizens should act "responsibly", with irresponsible behaviour penalised.
He said he believed there were 30,000 parents in the country who needed advice and support to raise their children properly, and gave his backing to continued use of the parenting orders and parenting contracts introduced under Mr Blair.
"I know it is controversial but being a parent is the most difficult job in the world," he said.
"Where there are parents unable or unwilling to do their job, it would be irresponsible to do nothing and leave children at risk and young people falling behind."
He promised to try to make public transport safer.
"As I go round the country, I have heard time and again the fears of ordinary people about travelling on buses, tubes, trains and station platforms, and faced with the sudden and random threat of violence or aggression," he said.
"I have agreed to consider whether - when a serious offence is committed on public transport - it will be an aggravating factor in sentencing."
Mr Brown also said there was a need to take a fresh look at the use of on-the-spot fines, or "fixed penalty notices" - a system which has been championed by Mr Blair.
"We need to review the use of fixed penalties, which I know have proved a valuable tool for you, but we need to make sure they are being used in line with intentions and with common sense and not simply to meet targets or generate revenue."
A day after the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) announced it had smashed a major internet ring trading in images of child abuse, Mr Brown added: "I am convinced of the need to toughen the laws against child pornography, not just photographs, but all images on computers."
He is, however, likely to receive some sharp private advice from Ceop, which is trying to stamp out use of the phrase "child pornography", which it believes is an inadequate and misleading word to described the appalling images of violence against children.