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 veggie
Registered: 07/26/04
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 Not arresting drug dealers will help REDUCE violent crime [UK] 
#10766195 - 07/30/09 05:02 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Not arresting drug dealers will help REDUCE violent crime, says think tank
July 30, 2009 - DailyMail.co.uk
Police should turn more of a blind eye to drug dealers to help reduce violent crime, according to a new report.
The UK Drug Policy Commission says ministers should focus more on reducing harm than seizures and arrests.
Leaving drug dealers in place might help avoid violent turf wars between rival gangs that can lead to murder, the think tank claims.
It notes how in Boston in the U.S. murder rates fell when police pledged not to prosecute gangsters for drugs if they stopped killing each other.
Roger Howard, chief executive of the UKDPC, said: 'Drug law enforcement is clearly not limited to the traditional role of arresting as many dealers as possible in anticipation of reducing supply.
'Drug markets will inevitably remain, and some enforcement agencies are beginning to prioritise their resources and efforts to curb the most harmful aspect of these.
'But to do this means having a much bigger picture of the harms being created and much better evaluation of the real impact and value for money of enforcement.'
Arrests can mean a dealer is only replaced with someone more violent or if a city centre drugs gang is shut down, that offenders move to a more secluded area.
Taking out one top figure can create a gap in the set-up, sparking violence and even death as others jostle for position.
The Commission said enforcement played a huge part but once a threshold is reached, it does not have a proportionate effect on reducing harm.
'Levels of enforcement activity appear to bear no direct relationship to levels of drug use or availability,' the report said.
'Traditionally, drug enforcement efforts have focused on arrests and seizures, with the aim of reducing supply, but drug markets are large, resilient, and quick to adapt.'
It suggested 'seeking to displace a market to another area, where it will have less impact'.
A survey of law enforcement agents conducted as part of the report found nine out of ten believed the war on drugs was unwinnable in the near future.
Drug dealers can often avoid having their operations shut down and even when arrests are made and supplies seized, they start up again.
Measuring success in terms of arrests and seizures was therefore of 'limited value', the report said.
Last week official figures revealed cocaine use rocketed by 25 per cent in the past 12 months in England and Wales.
Almost a million adults admitted using the drug, and nearly half of those were aged between 16 and 24.
Home Office minister Alan Campbell said: 'Tough enforcement is a fundamental part of our drug strategy, and the police continue to make real progress in tackling the supply of illegal drugs and in reducing the harm they cause.
'As the report states, harm reduction underpins every element of our approach to tackling this complex issue. That is why we are already cracking down on the most serious drugs, working with countries around the world, such as Columbia, to prevent drugs reaching the UK and empowering communities to work with the police to tackle drugs through Neighbourhood Policing.
'However, we are not complacent; communities do not want to be blighted by the effects of drug misuse and drug dealing, and that is why police, local authorities and communities must continue to work together so that our streets and communities can be free from the crime and anti-social behaviour they cause.'
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 OrgasmicBanana
I make your mouth water
Registered: 08/02/08
Posts: 303
Last seen: 7 days, 3 hours
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Re: Not arresting drug dealers will help REDUCE violent crime [UK] [Re: veggie]
#10766284 - 07/30/09 05:28 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Coaster
BaĘżal
Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 33,501
Loc: Deep in the Valley
Last seen: 1 year, 7 months
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Re: Not arresting drug dealers will help REDUCE violent crime [UK] [Re: OrgasmicBanana]
#10766381 - 07/30/09 06:04 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Measuring success in terms of arrests and seizures was therefore of limited value
-The UK Drug Policy Commission Think Tank
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siriusmushroom
pilgrim
Registered: 11/01/08
Posts: 94
Loc: earth
Last seen: 2 months, 12 days
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Re: Not arresting drug dealers will help REDUCE violent crime [UK] [Re: Coaster]
#10766580 - 07/30/09 07:48 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Edited by siriusmushroom (07/30/09 07:49 AM)
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shroomgatherer
Connoisseur of the finer things
Registered: 11/08/07
Posts: 1,709
Loc: Florida
Last seen: 26 days, 19 hours
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Re: Not arresting drug dealers will help REDUCE violent crime [UK] [Re: veggie]
#10766965 - 07/30/09 09:53 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
veggie said:
'Levels of enforcement activity appear to bear no direct relationship to levels of drug use or availability,' the report said.
No shit, they may have finally realized.
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