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March 13, 2002
POLICE CHIEF ASKS, "WHY SHOULDN'T YOU BE TAKING DRUGS?"
In a radical departure from policy, a senior police officer tonight tells
Channel 4 News he sees no problem with drug taking as long as "you're not
mugging old ladies". Richard Brunstrom Chief Constable with North Wales
Constabulary, who is known for his controversial views on Britain's drug
laws, calls for a major re-think on the way we deal with drug crime.
"What is the problem? If you're not mugging old ladies and not stealing
from shops and not stealing cars, what actually is the problem? Why
shouldn't you be taking drugs? And that's the question we need to be
asking ourselves. Why are these things illegal? What was the purpose
behind it?"
Brumstrom believes our current laws on drug-taking only exacerbate the
problem, and that the only way to win the war on drugs may be to legalise
them all.
"We have the harshest drugs laws in Europe and by far the worst drug abuse
problem. So we haven't got it right and in my view we are losing the war,
we have got the worst problems and we must look at other alternatives."
Brunstrom argues that it is our legal system is at fault, and calls into
question our current 'illogical' laws whereby alcohol and nicotine are
legal substances, and yet in his view, have a high cost to society and
cause as many social problems.
"There is no doubt at all that there is an appalling toll of human misery
caused by the misuse of drugs in the current environment. My proposition
is that much of that is caused by their illegality and not by the drugs and
if they were treated differently by our legal system it's quite possible
that much of the misery, much of the harm, much of the adverse impact on
health could be swept away because it is not caused by the drugs themselves
but by our legal system.
"It is very clear that alcohol and nicotine are arguably much more
dangerous to individuals and more costly to our society than many of the
proscribed drugs. So there is a great deal of illogicality attached to
that. I would like to see more logic. I'd like to know why these things
are illegal. Must they be illegal?"
"This is a moral problem as much as it is health or a legal one and that is
why I believe that society needs to talk about this. Why are drugs
illegal? And clearly if they damaging to health then that is one good
reason. But the reasons why some of these drugs have become illegal are
now lost in the mists of time and we ought to think about this."
It is Mr Brunstrom's belief is that the war on drugs has already been lost
and he says billions of pounds a year are going into the pockets of
criminals. He claims that if drugs were not illegal, their street value
would not be so high, and drug pushers would not stand to make the vast
sums currently possible by selling them.
"Something like £6 billion a year [is] going into the pockets of criminals
from citizens of this country to support a war that we are losing and in my
view we should be looking at alternatives.
"If drugs were not so hideously expensive, much of the reason for criminals
getting involved in their trading would disappear.... Drugs are freely
available and we're handing all profits to criminals. If you're going to
be a drug addict surely it's better to have a controlled drug of known
purity with proper dosage advice as I get on a bottle of aspirin rather
than buying something unknown from a stranger on a street corner and paying
money to criminals for the privilege. This is not sensible."
Brunstrom says that the war on drugs is causing a tidal wave of crime, with
a third of all recorded crime committed by drug addicts to support their
habit, and he calls for a look at alternative ways of controlling the
problem.
"Are these things actually that bad? Are they that evil? Are there better
alternatives to controlling use of drugs if we still want to control
them? The war on drugs is causing a tidal wave of crime. We can
demonstrate that something around a third of all recorded crime is
committed by drug addicts to support their habit. Do we really want to pay
those costs? Are there better alternatives?
Despite his unconventional views, he has not received calls for his
resignation and sees this as a sign that public opinion is shifting. He
says he has received backing for his suggestions, with the police authority
in Wales supporting his call for a Royal Commission to look into the
possibility of legalising all drugs. He also claims that his views in no
way affect his ability to uphold the current laws on drugs.
"I've been very pleasantly surprised by the level of support from my
suggestion that we should talk about this. Almost nobody has suggested
that I resign or that I have disgraced my uniform or that I ought to get
out of the police service. I think this is good news. Perhaps public
opinion is shifting, indeed I believe that it is very rapidly at the moment
and there is grave danger of people in my position or even government
ministers getting left behind public opinion."
"I am a police officer. I have a duty to uphold the law as it is, not as I
might wish it to be. I don't necessarily agree with several of the laws
that I have a duty to uphold. We will enforce the criminal law as it
stands to the best of our ability unless and until that law is changed."
Ends
Notes to editors. This interview will be broadcast in full tonight,
Wednesday March 13, on Channel 4 News at 7.00pm.
POLICE CHIEF ASKS, "WHY SHOULDN'T YOU BE TAKING DRUGS?"
In a radical departure from policy, a senior police officer tonight tells
Channel 4 News he sees no problem with drug taking as long as "you're not
mugging old ladies". Richard Brunstrom Chief Constable with North Wales
Constabulary, who is known for his controversial views on Britain's drug
laws, calls for a major re-think on the way we deal with drug crime.
"What is the problem? If you're not mugging old ladies and not stealing
from shops and not stealing cars, what actually is the problem? Why
shouldn't you be taking drugs? And that's the question we need to be
asking ourselves. Why are these things illegal? What was the purpose
behind it?"
Brumstrom believes our current laws on drug-taking only exacerbate the
problem, and that the only way to win the war on drugs may be to legalise
them all.
"We have the harshest drugs laws in Europe and by far the worst drug abuse
problem. So we haven't got it right and in my view we are losing the war,
we have got the worst problems and we must look at other alternatives."
Brunstrom argues that it is our legal system is at fault, and calls into
question our current 'illogical' laws whereby alcohol and nicotine are
legal substances, and yet in his view, have a high cost to society and
cause as many social problems.
"There is no doubt at all that there is an appalling toll of human misery
caused by the misuse of drugs in the current environment. My proposition
is that much of that is caused by their illegality and not by the drugs and
if they were treated differently by our legal system it's quite possible
that much of the misery, much of the harm, much of the adverse impact on
health could be swept away because it is not caused by the drugs themselves
but by our legal system.
"It is very clear that alcohol and nicotine are arguably much more
dangerous to individuals and more costly to our society than many of the
proscribed drugs. So there is a great deal of illogicality attached to
that. I would like to see more logic. I'd like to know why these things
are illegal. Must they be illegal?"
"This is a moral problem as much as it is health or a legal one and that is
why I believe that society needs to talk about this. Why are drugs
illegal? And clearly if they damaging to health then that is one good
reason. But the reasons why some of these drugs have become illegal are
now lost in the mists of time and we ought to think about this."
It is Mr Brunstrom's belief is that the war on drugs has already been lost
and he says billions of pounds a year are going into the pockets of
criminals. He claims that if drugs were not illegal, their street value
would not be so high, and drug pushers would not stand to make the vast
sums currently possible by selling them.
"Something like £6 billion a year [is] going into the pockets of criminals
from citizens of this country to support a war that we are losing and in my
view we should be looking at alternatives.
"If drugs were not so hideously expensive, much of the reason for criminals
getting involved in their trading would disappear.... Drugs are freely
available and we're handing all profits to criminals. If you're going to
be a drug addict surely it's better to have a controlled drug of known
purity with proper dosage advice as I get on a bottle of aspirin rather
than buying something unknown from a stranger on a street corner and paying
money to criminals for the privilege. This is not sensible."
Brunstrom says that the war on drugs is causing a tidal wave of crime, with
a third of all recorded crime committed by drug addicts to support their
habit, and he calls for a look at alternative ways of controlling the
problem.
"Are these things actually that bad? Are they that evil? Are there better
alternatives to controlling use of drugs if we still want to control
them? The war on drugs is causing a tidal wave of crime. We can
demonstrate that something around a third of all recorded crime is
committed by drug addicts to support their habit. Do we really want to pay
those costs? Are there better alternatives?
Despite his unconventional views, he has not received calls for his
resignation and sees this as a sign that public opinion is shifting. He
says he has received backing for his suggestions, with the police authority
in Wales supporting his call for a Royal Commission to look into the
possibility of legalising all drugs. He also claims that his views in no
way affect his ability to uphold the current laws on drugs.
"I've been very pleasantly surprised by the level of support from my
suggestion that we should talk about this. Almost nobody has suggested
that I resign or that I have disgraced my uniform or that I ought to get
out of the police service. I think this is good news. Perhaps public
opinion is shifting, indeed I believe that it is very rapidly at the moment
and there is grave danger of people in my position or even government
ministers getting left behind public opinion."
"I am a police officer. I have a duty to uphold the law as it is, not as I
might wish it to be. I don't necessarily agree with several of the laws
that I have a duty to uphold. We will enforce the criminal law as it
stands to the best of our ability unless and until that law is changed."
Ends
Notes to editors. This interview will be broadcast in full tonight,
Wednesday March 13, on Channel 4 News at 7.00pm.
Associated
links:
Independent Television News Limited,
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Telephone: 0207 833 3000.
200 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8XZ,
Telephone: 0207 833 3000.
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