Police vow to stamp out Boscombe's drug dealing (From Thisisdorset)

Well done Mike Mullin and team - good to see some positive action toward ridding us of the filthy dealers who prey on the, more often than not, mentally vulnerable. All that's needed now is for the prisons to be cleaned up and improved rehab facilities - too many addicts chasing too few spaces!
Judges could play their part better (particularly Magistrates) in ensuring those that need help are referred for it rather than just imprisoned!

“Women working the streets and drug dependants are the victims here,” DI Mullen added.--- I disagree. They are part of the problem, not "victims." All this softly softly stuff is wrong. Bring down the hammer of the law on anybody who sells or uses drugs. Stop feeling sorry for the junkies and start feeling sorry for the people whos houses get broken into, whos cars get nicked, who get mugged for their wallets--- they are the victims, not the ones who choose to stick drugs inside them, then winge about how "it's not my fault." If the Police really believe they can clean up Boscombe while we have so many rehab centres there, then they are dreaming. All this latest blitz will do is quieten things down for a few days, then when the Police have gone back to nicking car drivers, the druggies will come straight back again. I also noticed that Detective Inspector Michael Mullen said “I want this open drug dealing to be stamped out" Does that mean as long as it is not out in the open, the Police don't care what happens? Zero Tollerence, that's whats needed. Sod the Human Rights of the druggies and their suppliers.

Just another day in Boscombe !!!!

The government needs to start giving useful sentences to back up the good work of the police. These people will be back on the streets in 3 years.

Rainbowkisses, I used to feel much like you in that I viewed drug addicts as filthy, verminous thieves. However, if you give a little time to volunteer with these people you start to recognise a recurring theme for many of them. A large proportion only started drugs when they were in a fragile state emotionally – some at a young age due to abuse and the need to ‘block out’ what was happening to them. Same goes for a lot of prostitutes who often start as runaways or youngsters in care where a friendly pimp will take them under their wing and offer them the chance of ‘better’ life. They are often manipulated into taking drugs as it’s a way for their pimp to keep control and ensure their asset keeps working for them!
Pimps and drug dealers are the criminals here, so yes, a lot (granted not all) of junkies and prostitutes are the victims. If you were screaming in agony at the very real and physical pain of withdrawal, might you not be tempted to do whatever it takes to fund the ‘cure’?

Boscombe Jock wrote:
Just another day in Boscombe !!!!

to true ; Boscombe has always and will always be the same

rainbowkisses, you should find out a bit about the victims of organised drug supplying. There are victims whether you say so or not. We cant all be as perfect as you, and punishing someone for a disease, for thats what addiction is, never solved anything, whereas rehabilitation does, yet you condemn it. Sort your head out.

to rainbowkisses: whether or not you have any sympathy for the users and prostitutes the fact remains unless you can help someone get off drugs then as soon as they come out of prison they will re-offend because the problem will still be there.
Yes everyone suffers because of drugs, users and innocent members of the public alike, I think it is very easy to sit back and condemn people without knowing what has lead them to such a low-point. I take it you weren't passed from care home to care home or abused by your family - if you had been maybe you might have a bit more understanding and compassion.So closing centres where people can get help is the worst thing to do, from both a practical and moral standpoint- and if people call me a bleeding-heart liberal so be it, i'd rather have a bleeding heart than a stone one.

Those arrested in this recent operation were I suspect low level dealers who can easily be replaced. In fact I expect the supply chain has already been restored and the usual substances will be readily available by the weekend.
Drug dealing is a business like any other and the occassional "raid" and the removal of a few dealers and the loss of drugs is seen as an occupoational hazzard and priced into the price paid by the user on the Street. The larger players go unpunished and unhindered for a variety of reasons which it would be unwise to go into here but until drugs are legalised, regulated and taxed (why not?) then this problem is not going to go away.

lock them up and throw away the key,scum of society.

ben111 wrote:

Boscombe Jock wrote:
Just another day in Boscombe !!!!

to true ; Boscombe has always and will always be the same

Actualy Boscombe used to be the posh area of bournemouth. Intill it become bedsit city.

kenny7 wrote:
lock them up and throw away the key,scum of society.

Are you referring to all victims of abuse? Or just the ones who turned to illegal drugs?

Oldalbanian wrote:
Those arrested in this recent operation were I suspect low level dealers who can easily be replaced. In fact I expect the supply chain has already been restored and the usual substances will be readily available by the weekend.
Drug dealing is a business like any other and the occassional "raid" and the removal of a few dealers and the loss of drugs is seen as an occupoational hazzard and priced into the price paid by the user on the Street. The larger players go unpunished and unhindered for a variety of reasons which it would be unwise to go into here but until drugs are legalised, regulated and taxed (why not?) then this problem is not going to go away.

I quite agree,a few raids now and agin is probably welcomed by the top guys in drug dealing,helps them easily replace low end dealers now and agin,and if the police think a few raids here and there is going to stop drug dealing,then they really do live in another world to the rest of us,if the drugs are legalised,then the dealers will eventually go out of business,as they would not be able to sell there drugs as cheap,but hey thats never going to happen,so the status quo will carry on.

There has been prostitution and drug dealing in Boscombe for as long as I can remember - certainly from the days when I was reporting on court cases for the Echo back in the 1970s. Why start a crackdown now? Isn't it a bit late?

http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=bCChf2WHN
E4&feature=related

I take drugs all the time… alcohol, tobacco, coffee… Ah, but it's those other drugs, of course: they're the ones that are dangerous.
---
On a side note, it's high time the police got rid of breathalysers because they can't catch drug drivers, just like speed cameras can't catch drink-drivers etc. Same thing, they're both useless. So they should be banned. Fact.

Actually, I heard that this operation didn't just take out the dealers but targetted some of the top boys in the drugs world who run Bournemouth, many of whom live in London. This was not just a local operation by Dorset Police but many other forces too.

Rainbowkisses, you are such a miserable bitter know-nothing. You never see the positive in anything and you are clearly anti-old bill.

Cheer up

rainbowkisses wrote:
“Women working the streets and drug dependants are the victims here,” DI Mullen added.--- I disagree. They are part of the problem, not "victims." All this softly softly stuff is wrong. Bring down the hammer of the law on anybody who sells or uses drugs. Stop feeling sorry for the junkies and start feeling sorry for the people whos houses get broken into, whos cars get nicked, who get mugged for their wallets--- they are the victims, not the ones who choose to stick drugs inside them, then winge about how "it's not my fault." If the Police really believe they can clean up Boscombe while we have so many rehab centres there, then they are dreaming. All this latest blitz will do is quieten things down for a few days, then when the Police have gone back to nicking car drivers, the druggies will come straight back again. I also noticed that Detective Inspector Michael Mullen said “I want this open drug dealing to be stamped out" Does that mean as long as it is not out in the open, the Police don't care what happens? Zero Tollerence, that's whats needed. Sod the Human Rights of the druggies and their suppliers.

I like the cut of your jib, young lady. Zero tolerance, that's what's called for – apart from any offences I admit myself, of course…

Drugs and police crackdowns hits the headlines. As the governement and National Treatment Agancy prepare to release its Drugs Strategy for 2010 with a vision that reads

To prevent drug taking, disrupt drug supply, strengthen enforcement and promote drug treatment with the focus on enabling people to become free of their addictions, including alcohol, to recover fully and contribute to society.”

Pretty much the same strategy governements have had since the 70's

Nothing Changes if nothing changes.

I wonder if the fact that my neighbourhood has one of the highest densities of drug treatment facilities anywhere in the country and has this anything to do with the overwhelming number of drug war casualties.

below is a list of the Police supporters for drugs law reform.

Police

Tom Wood Scotland's Drug Tsar and a former deputy chief constable
Dennis Bradley former Vice-Chairman of the Police Force of Northern Ireland
Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom Chief Constable, North Wales
Tom Lloyd former Chief Constable of Cambridge
Jim Duffy Inspector, Chairman Strathclyde Police Federation
Eddie Ellison former operational head of Scotland Yard Drug Squad
PC George Evans Greater Manchester Police
Commander John Grieve Formerly Criminal Intelligence Unit, Scotland Yard
Raymond Kendall former Secretary General of INTERPOL
Sergeant Gordon Payne
Chief Constable Colin Phillips Serving Chief Constable of Cumberland Police
Chief Constable Barry Shaw (then serving Chief Constable of Cleveland) retired 2003
Tom Stoddart Detective Superintendant Cleveland Police
Chief Constable Maria Wallis Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall
Chief Superintendent Anthony Wills Hammersmith and Fulham
Francis Wilkinson former Chief Constable of Gwent (Transform Patron)
Paul Whitehouse QPM former chief constable.

These people know what they are talking about.

While I am all for the Police takeing out thesd lot i have to say that all this is all short term solutions. Boscome has never been any different since i was 19 years of age and a resident of Bournemouth, i am 51 now. Nothing will change. I want to see a pernament solution to the import of it. It's not unsolvable becouse it's man made situation, man make problem then man can solve it.

Here is a list of politicians past and present who have expressed support for drugs law reforms.

Politics

MPs, MEPs, AMs, Peers, Civil servants, Parliamentary committees, US and World politics.

UK MPs

David Cameron MP Conservative, leader of the parliamentary party
Nick Clegg MP Liberal Democrat, leader of the parliamentary party
Phillip Oppenheim Conservative, former minister
Frank Cook MP Labour (former)
Ann Cryer MP Labour (former)
Janet Dean MP Labour (former)
Alun Duncan MP Conservative, former cabinet minister
Bill Etherington MP Labour (former)
Paul Flynn MP Labour
Dr Ian Gibson MP Labour (former)
Brian Iddon MP Labour (former)
Dr Lynne Jones MP Labour (former)
Tessa Jowell MP Labour
Charles Kennedy MP Liberal Democrat
Austin Mitchell MP Labour
Chris Mullin MP Labour (former)
Bridget Prentice MP Labour (former)
Gwyn Prosser MP Labour (former)
John Reid MP Labour (former)
Clare Short MP Labour, former Cabinet Minister
Alan Simpson MP Labour (former)
Marsha Singh MP Labour
Dr Rudi Vis MP Labour (former)
Bob Russell MP Labour
Simon Hughes MP Liberal Democrat
Lembit Opik MP Liberal Democrat (former)
Peter Lilley MP Conservative, former cabinet minister
Adam Price MP Plaid Cymru (former)
Tom Watson MP Labour
David Winnick MP Labour
Craig Murray British Ambassador

Former MPs

Tony Banks Labour, former MP and minister for sport
Mo Mowlam Labour, former MP and minister with drugs brief
Jon Owen Jones Labour, former Welsh health minister
Michael Portillo Conservative, former MP and Cabinet Minister
David Halpern - former policy adviser to Tony Blair

Assembly Members

Leanne Wood AM Plaid Cymru

Peers

Lord Richard Labour
Lord Baker Conservative, former home secretary (1990-1992)
Lord Bingham of Cornhill Cross bench, former Lord Chief Justice (1996-2000)
Lord Carlisle of Bucklow Conservative
Lord Cobbold Crossbench
Lord Haskins Labour
Lord Jenkins Labour, former home secretary (1965-1967)
Lord Mancroft Conservative
Lord McCluskey Crossbench, former judge of the Scottish High Court
Lord Rea Labour
Baroness (Dr) Tonge former MP, Liberal Democrat
Baroness Walmsley Liberal Democrat
Lord Ramsbotham Chief Inspector of Probation (at the time of quote, since retired)

Councillors

Meryl Gravel Carmarthenshire Coucil Leader

UK MEPs

Chris Davies MEP European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party
Andrew Duff MEP European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party
Ian Hudghton MEP Greens/European Free Alliance
Sarah Ludford MEP European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party
Jan Lambert MEP Greens/European Free Alliance
Caroline Lucas MEP Greens/European Free Alliance
Prof Sir Niel MacCormick MEP Greens/European Free Alliance
Eurig Wyn MEP Greens/European Free Alliance

Other MEPs

Appeal for an Anti-prohibitionist Reform of Drug Laws - signed by 108 MEPs (inc. UK MEPs)

Civil Servants

Julian Critchley -former director of the UK Anti-Drug Coordination Unit in the Cabinet Office
Sir Keith Morris former UK Ambassador to Colombia (1990-1994)
Ken Livingstone Mayor of London, former Labour MP

Parliamentary Committees
Home Affairs Select Committee (2002)
The European Parliament Civil Liberties Committee (1997)

US Politicians

Barack Obama U.S President
Bob Barr presidantial candidate for the Libertarian Party
Jimmy Carter former US President
Bill Clinton former U.S. President
Dan Quayle former US Vice president
Barry McCaffrey Former U.S Drugs Czar
Ralph Nader US presidential candidate 2000, 2004 Green Party
Robert F Kennedy US Senator
Jesse Ventura Governor of Minnesota, Actor, former WWF wrestler (!)
George Schultz former Secretary of State for president Ronald Reagan
Ron Paul former U.S. Texas Congressman
Gary Johnson former Governor of New Mexico
Cory Booker Mayor of Newark
David Passage former Ambassador to Columbia

European politicians

Jorge Sampiaio President of Portugal
Frits Bolkestein former European Commissioner

Latin America

Jorge Battle President of Uruguay (elected March 2000)
Fernando Henrique Cardoso Former President of Brazil
Jorge Castaneda, Foreign Minister of Mexico
Hugo Chavez President of Venezuela
Vicente Fox President of Mexico
Gilberto Gil Brazilian Culture Minister
Gustavo de Grieff former Attorney General of Colombia
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Argentine President
Márcio Thomaz Bastos Attorney General of Brazil
Manuel Zelaya Honduran President

Religious leaders
Groups and indivduals from a variety of religions/denominati
ons

Note: Inclusion on these pages does not imply support for, or association with Transform Drug Policy Foundation (unless specified) and Transform does not automatically endorse all views expressed here. Transform has no affiliations to any religious groups.
UK

Church of England Board for Social Responsibility
Quaker Action on Alcohol and Drugs


Rowan Williams Archbishop of Canterbury
Rabbi Tony Bayfield Director, Sternberg Centre for Judaism
Rabbi Sidney Brichto Senior Vice President of the Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogue
Reverend Dr. Kenneth Leech Founder of Soho Drugs Group, Founder of Centrepoint
Peter McVerry Clergy & founder of the Peter McVerry Trust
Peter Selby Bishop of Worcester

USA and world

Archbishop Jose Luis Chavez Botello of Antequera-Oaxaca, Mexico

Civil Rights Religious Leaders Drug War Pronouncement - signed by:

Rev. James Lawson Jr.
Rev. C.T. Vivian
Rev. Will D. Campbell
Diane Nash
Rev. Bernard Lafayette
Rev. James Bevel

Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative (USA) signed by:

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Presbyterian Church (USA)
United Church of Christ
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Progressive Jewish Alliance
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
Religious Society of Friends (Philadelphia Yearly Meeting)

Rethinking Plan Colombia: NATIONAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS SHARE CONCERNS ON US POLICY TOWARD COLOMBIA letter addressed to US presidential candidates October 11 2004, signed by:

Rev. John L. McCullough, Executive Director and CEO Church World Service
Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar, General Secretary National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA
Rev. Ronald D. Witherup, S.S. President Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Kathryn Wolford, President Lutheran World Relief
Bruce Wilkinson, Senior Vice President International Programs Group World Vision
Rev. John Thomas, General Minister and President United Church of Christ
The Reverend Mark S. Hanson Presiding Bishop Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
James Winkler General Secretary General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church
The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold Presiding Bishop and Primate The Episcopal Church, USA
Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick Stated Clerk Presbyterian Church (USA)
Rosanne Rustemeyer, SSND Executive Director U.S. Catholic Mission Association
Ken Hackett President Catholic Relief Services
Rev. Kenneth Gavin, S.J. National Director Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
Gail E. Mengel National Board Minister Church Women United
Carolyn Krebs, OP President Dominican Leadership Dominican Sisters
Marie Dennis Director Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Joe Volk Executive Secretary Friends Committee on National Legislation
Jim Wallis Editor Sojourners Magazine
Arlene DiMarco Vice President National Council of Catholic Women
Maureen Fenlon, OP National Coordinator NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Rev. Ron Stief Minister and Team Leader Washington Office United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries J. Daryl Byler Director Mennonite Central Committee, Washington Office.
Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton Auxiliary Bishop, Archdiocese of Detroit
Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory Director Washington Office Presbyterian Church, (USA)
US Jesuit Conference, Roman Catholic Washington, DC
Richard Parkins Director Episcopal Migration Ministries
Executive Council, Sisters of St. Francis
Brian Terrell Executive Director Catholic Peace Ministry
Krisanne Vaillencourt Executive Director Witness for Peace
Patricia Clark Executive Director Fellowship of Reconciliation
Jim Atwood Coordinator Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
Sister Mary M McGlone Executive Director, FUVIRESE USA Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
Dr. Monika K. Hellwig President Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities
Phil Reed, M.Afr. Coordinator Justice and Peace Office Society of Missionaries of Africa

The General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association (US)

Rev. Cheryl Jack Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Durham, Ontario, Canada
Father John Clifton Marquis, S.T.
Reverend Arnold W. Howard Enon Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland
Professor Walter Wink Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City.



UK

Church of England Board for Social Responsibility

"We support the Runciman Inquiry's recommendations on pages 115-116 of their report that "the possession of cannabis should not be an imprisonable offence." (Para 77 ii). We also wish to support some of the cogent argument of Peter Lilley MP in his Audenshaw Paper 193, where he says that inebriation is regarded as a sin because it can lead to more serious wrongdoing. Alcohol inebriation has long been associated with violence in some cases, and it is possible that cannabis abuse could sometimes have harmful effects. However that is a matter for personal responsibility, guided by moral imperatives. Abuse, which is a sin, is not necessarily a crime: adultery is wrong, but it is not a crime. Murder is both a sin and a crime, by definition. We believe that it is time to decriminalise the possession of cannabis, for the following reasons. It leads to disrespect for the law among young people; it is enforced in a random manner; there is no link between cannabis and the use of hard drugs except for a tiny minority, which is a point Dr Leech has repeatedly made (Drugs and The Church page 17). Indeed the criminalisation of cannabis makes the association with hard drugs perversely more likely. Legislation is being used here to govern morality, and the indication is that it sets up greater problems in the future. We do take seriously the point that young people may be encouraged to use cannabis more heavily if this legislative change takes place, and we believe that even greater drug education is necessary in schools and with young people. We therefore support the Runciman Inquiry on the question of decriminalisation."

Source: from written submission to the Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry 'The Government's Drug Policy: is it Working?' 2001
http://www.parliamen
t.the-stationery-off
ice.co.uk/pa/cm20010
2/cmselect/cmhaff/31
8/318m19.htm

Gary Sherborne wrote:
Drugs and police crackdowns hits the headlines. As the governement and National Treatment Agancy prepare to release its Drugs Strategy for 2010 with a vision that reads

To prevent drug taking, disrupt drug supply, strengthen enforcement and promote drug treatment with the focus on enabling people to become free of their addictions, including alcohol, to recover fully and contribute to society.”

Pretty much the same strategy governements have had since the 70's

Nothing Changes if nothing changes.

I wonder if the fact that my neighbourhood has one of the highest densities of drug treatment facilities anywhere in the country and has this anything to do with the overwhelming number of drug war casualties.

below is a list of the Police supporters for drugs law reform.

Police

Tom Wood Scotland's Drug Tsar and a former deputy chief constable
Dennis Bradley former Vice-Chairman of the Police Force of Northern Ireland
Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom Chief Constable, North Wales
Tom Lloyd former Chief Constable of Cambridge
Jim Duffy Inspector, Chairman Strathclyde Police Federation
Eddie Ellison former operational head of Scotland Yard Drug Squad
PC George Evans Greater Manchester Police
Commander John Grieve Formerly Criminal Intelligence Unit, Scotland Yard
Raymond Kendall former Secretary General of INTERPOL
Sergeant Gordon Payne
Chief Constable Colin Phillips Serving Chief Constable of Cumberland Police
Chief Constable Barry Shaw (then serving Chief Constable of Cleveland) retired 2003
Tom Stoddart Detective Superintendant Cleveland Police
Chief Constable Maria Wallis Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall
Chief Superintendent Anthony Wills Hammersmith and Fulham
Francis Wilkinson former Chief Constable of Gwent (Transform Patron)
Paul Whitehouse QPM former chief constable.

These people know what they are talking about.

No they don't. If you want an expert opinion, ask me… Drugs is bad. That's all there is to it. Fact. End of. Nah nah-nah nah nah, not listening…

Maybe the police should spend more time down Walpole Road, I am forever calling them due to stuff going on.. there are a few houses around which just attract trouble.. hope they are next on the list!

Past experience shows clearly that the 'War on Drugs' has been an abject failure.
'Crack-down', excuse the pun, simply doesn't work.
~
It is a waste of police/public resources which succeeds only in driving prices up, quality down and all related problems underground where they are harder to deal with.
~
It also funnels money into the pockets of not-very-nice people, in this country and in other war torn countries like Columbia, Afghanistan and Mexico.
~
Since the 80's when the WoD started drug use has rocketed, there are more hard drugs and more users now than there ever was.
~
There is also a lot of 'collateral damage', with innocent parties such as wives and children made to suffer as their families are torn-apart by imprisonment of a family member, (often for little more than a bag of marijuana).
~
Over two-thirds of inmates are in our prisons for drug-related crimes. This is very expensive and achieves little.
~
Legalisation and regulation of the drug trade would undercut the criminal networks and guarantee unadulterated supplies to consumers, thus lessening health impacts. It would be easier to monitor and to deal with the negative impacts of hard-drug use.
~
Time for a more thoughtful approach.
~
Let's stop banging our heads against a wall, and listen to Professor Nutt.
He and his team studied the issue in great depth (at our expense, only to be sacked when the conclusions he reached were not politically expedient) and offer considered, workable, affordable solutions that will genuinely protect public health and welfare from the curse that is hard drugs.

Sadly, whilst there is still demand for drugs in the area others will simply move in and take the place of those arrested.
.

Here is news form other expert.

Legalise heroin and cocaine to cut crime and improve health, top doctor says

By Sophie Borland
Last updated at 6:00 PM on 17th August 2010

* Comments (284)
* Add to My Stories

Personal drug use should be legalised to cut crime and improve health, a top doctor has said.

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, the outgoing president of the Royal College of Physicians, suggested that relaxing the law on possessing substances such as heroin, cocaine and cannabis would not increase the number of addicts.

This could save vast amounts of taxpayers' money, he suggests.
Cocaine is an addictive Class A drug and possession can lead to seven years in jail. Now a leading doctor has called for it to be decriminalised along with other illicit drugs

Cocaine is an addictive Class A drug and possession can lead to seven years in jail. Now a leading doctor has called for it to be decriminalised along with other illicit drugs

Campaigners in favour of legalising drugs and making them available for free on the NHS claim it would cut crime as addicts would no longer steal to fund their habit.

They also believe that it would lower rates of diseases such as HIV, as users would not share infected needles because clean equipment would be provided.

Sir Ian, who worked as a liver specialist, said: 'Every day in our hospital wards we see drug addicts with infections from dirty needles, we see heroin addicts with complication from contaminated drugs.'

The expert said he therefore fully supported remarks made by Britain's leading barrister, who last month demanded a review of drug laws.

'I personally back the chairman of the UK Bar Council, Nicholas Green QC, when he calls for drug laws to be reconsidered with a view to decriminalising illicit drugs use,' he said.

'This could drastically reduce crime and improve health.'
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore claims relaxing the law on drugs would be beneficial to society - and would not increase the number of addicts

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore claims relaxing the law on drugs would be beneficial to society - and would not increase the number of addicts

Speaking to the BBC this morning, he added: 'Everyone who has looked at this in a serious and sustained way concludes that the present policy of prohibition is not a success.

'There are really strong arguments to look again.'

Others argue that such a move would mean less chance of users being harmed by other substances taken with the drugs.

A significant proportion of heroin deaths are believed to be caused by an overdose of quinine, which dealers often combine with the class A drug to make it appear as though there is more.

But critics warned that Sir Ian's views were 'misguided' because they encouraged drug use.

David Green, director of thinktank Civitas, said: 'Legalising drugs would simply result in a lot more people taking them.

'The general consensus from research is that drug-taking is part of a dysfunctional life which involves crime. The argument that crime rates would go down is misguided.'

He added: 'I cannot see how public health would be improved.

'If it is a lot easier to take substances, there would be more people on drugs and therefore requiring medical attention - so overall health rates would deteriorate.'

Anders Ulstein, of the Europe Against Drugs pressure group, said: 'Legalising drug use will not solve any problems.


More...

* Young father the first Briton to die 'after taking new mind-altering legal high Ivory Wave'
* Police discover 20 large-scale cannabis factories in Britain EVERY DAY

'Lots of people appear to have a very ideological stance on this without coming up with replacement methods of stopping people from taking drugs. This debate is very harmful.'

Sir Ian's remarks were welcomed by groups campaigning for reforms in drugs law.

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Danny Kushlick of Transform, a think tank which believes that making substances illegal causes more harm, said: 'Sir Ian's statement is yet another nail in prohibition's coffin.

'Physicians are duty bound to speak out if the outcomes show that prohibition causes more harm than it reduces.'

Sir Ian made his remarks in a final email to colleagues before standing down as president of the Royal College of Physicians this month.

But his relaxed attitude on the availability on drugs contrasts sharply to his views on alcohol.

He accused Labour ministers of 'irresponsibility' for failing to stop supermarkets from selling cheap booze.

And he said the party's 24-hour drinking laws would allow pubs and bars to put profits before customers' health.

His comments on drugs follow those of Professor David Nutt last month.

Professor Nutt, who was sacked as the Labour government's top drugs adviser after saying alcohol was more harmful than ecstasy, said Britain needed a radical new approach to drugs laws, which he said could include the regulated sale of some drugs.


Read more: http://www.dailymail
.co.uk/news/article-
1303590/Prof-Ian-Gil
more-Legalise-heroin
-cocaine-cut-crime-i
mprove-health.html#i
xzz0yTeXQmR6

T39 wrote:
Actually, I heard that this operation didn't just take out the dealers but targetted some of the top boys in the drugs world who run Bournemouth, many of whom live in London. This was not just a local operation by Dorset Police but many other forces too. Rainbowkisses, you are such a miserable bitter know-nothing. You never see the positive in anything and you are clearly anti-old bill. Cheer up

Just as you are entitled to your opinion T39, so I am entitled to mine. I assume as you say I know nothing, you on the other hand must know everything? I am neither miserable nor bitter. I just don't waste my time feeling sorry for people who won't accept help, or after getting help, go back to a way of life that will kill them. Please don't assume you know me, you don't. Or do you just assume everybody who has a different attitude to you is a moron? How many of these "victims" you worry so much about have been in and out of rehab? How many times have they had help, only to go back on drugs? Why should people who don't use drugs as a crutch have their lives ruined by these junkies robbing them? We sit on different sides of the fence, but that doesn't mean my opinion is wrong, just different from yours. We have spent millions trying to help druggies doing things your way, and it simply hasn't worked. As for being anti Police---how wrong you are. I think over all the Police do a very good job with the handicap of having their hands tied by Goverment. Saying that though, it doesn't mean I am blind to these headline surges they have. They know it will do nothing to control the drug trade in the long term, but it looks good in the papers. We have all known for years that drugs are being dealt openly in Boscombe. So after this little headline grabber has been forgotten, do you really think Boscombe will be a cleaner, safer place? Zero Tollerance all the time might do something, but these little purges surely won't. I was in Boscombe today and saw at least 8 Police Officers walking around on patrol. How long do you think that will be kept up for? There was a time when if you broke the law, you knew you would be punished. Now in these enlightened times of helping the "victims" they know they are more than likely going to get away with it. We are each responsible for our actions, and that includes the druggies etc.

Unfortunately those who do get help are vunerable when their treatment is finished and without further support easily go back to drugs.
The drug culture costs this country millions of pounds a year.
The drugs trade is worth billions of pounds a year.
What we do to attack the drugs culture only scatches the surface of the problem.

I agree with every one of your comments, Rainbowkisses.
A leopard never changes its spots. Zero tolerance is needed for this anti-social behaviour.
West Hill car park, the Public toilets in Commercial Rd/ Poole Hill Rd and St. Michaels Rd are areas which the Police are aware of drug dealing - Will these be targeted next?
I hope so, and the Magistrates backing the Police by giving stiffer sentences to the "same old faces".

I think that this was just a PR exercise and very much doubt that they arrested any real drug dealers, by real I mean the major players and not the bottom end of the pile living in Boscombe who are most likely dealing small amounts to support their habits, others will soon fill the gap.

Considering the amount of money to be made from drug dealing I very much doubt that the real dealers will be living in the crumby run down areas of Bournemouth. If they really want to sort out Boscombe then they need to vastly improve the housing and shopping centre/high st.

The real top brass dealers are most definately Not living in Boscombe, thats absolutly right. The big players live in mansion and have great big boats moored inplaces like Poole or on the Thames. If people want to keep living thier lives with thier fingers in thier ears and pretend that stupid costly police raids are going to do anything than disrupte the supply chain for more than a minute or two, then the old bill and thinker than I thought.

They will still be indulging in burglary tonight and buying elsewhere. Expect loads of overdoses in the coming days. Legalisation is the only way. The current plan does not work.

zagzig wrote:
I think that this was just a PR exercise and very much doubt that they arrested any real drug dealers, by real I mean the major players and not the bottom end of the pile living in Boscombe who are most likely dealing small amounts to support their habits, others will soon fill the gap. Considering the amount of money to be made from drug dealing I very much doubt that the real dealers will be living in the crumby run down areas of Bournemouth. If they really want to sort out Boscombe then they need to vastly improve the housing and shopping centre/high st.

I blame the drug dealing motorists.....always speeding!.........

I have been in the area on and off for 25 years, and remember Boscombe before the Sovereign Centre was built. All I can say is things have progressively worsened. So the question I have is this, why have things been allowed to get established and firmly rooted into this community and not firmly dealt with 25 years ago???

So what people realy thingk is their is no solution to this problem - I dont belive that their is no solution. Forget the thingking professors of universities around the world who's only real experiance in what they talk about comes out of a book. Forget about legalised drug's as that wont work. The I thingk the answer to the world drug's trade is in a more pratical sence that could be applied but wont. Same as the import of it into the U.K. As lomg as I breath in and out I will never belive it is impossible to solve.

rainbowkisses wrote:
“Women working the streets and drug dependants are the victims here,” DI Mullen added.--- I disagree. They are part of the problem, not "victims." All this softly softly stuff is wrong. Bring down the hammer of the law on anybody who sells or uses drugs. Stop feeling sorry for the junkies and start feeling sorry for the people whos houses get broken into, whos cars get nicked, who get mugged for their wallets--- they are the victims, not the ones who choose to stick drugs inside them, then winge about how "it's not my fault." If the Police really believe they can clean up Boscombe while we have so many rehab centres there, then they are dreaming. All this latest blitz will do is quieten things down for a few days, then when the Police have gone back to nicking car drivers, the druggies will come straight back again. I also noticed that Detective Inspector Michael Mullen said “I want this open drug dealing to be stamped out" Does that mean as long as it is not out in the open, the Police don't care what happens? Zero Tollerence, that's whats needed. Sod the Human Rights of the druggies and their suppliers.

When you say junkies do you mean anyone that takes any drugs like a smoker or drinker? Or is a junkie just some one that takes illegal drugs?

And do you really think there is a difference?

It can take ages for an addict to reach the point where they want to address their addiction.

But there is not enough capacity in the system. If the addict has to wait for just one day for help then the window of opportunity may have passed.

Some interesting views on such a controversial challenging subject. I'm still amazed that the majority of the focus has been on substance misuse. It would seem that so many of the public are misinformed, financially Alcohol dependence costs England & Wales 17.5 billion pounds a year. Taking into account all of the other drugs and financial harms caused amount to somewhere in the region to half caused by Alcohol. So why is the focus on drug dealers / users. of course its about the government ticking boxes raising public awareness in the hope of attracting votes. the only way forward is having the correct intervention for the individual, no one size fits all. we are a long way off from finding a balance with this problem and even further with opinionated dogmatic misinformed views.

Police vow to stamp out Boscombe's drug dealing.
Thats how this story started, but now everybody on here thinks they are the experts on drug addiction and rehabilitation, unbelievable

twobigdogs, says... I blame the drug dealing motorists.....always speeding!.........

Too right, there should be a crack down!

butlincat wrote:
rainbowkisses, you should find out a bit about the victims of organised drug supplying. There are victims whether you say so or not. We cant all be as perfect as you, and punishing someone for a disease, for thats what addiction is, never solved anything, whereas rehabilitation does, yet you condemn it. Sort your head out.

So where is all this bleeding heart liberalism when it comes to cigarette smokers? Why are they villified as the scourge of society?

People arent aware the heroin trade is controlled, funded and sustained by the CIA in America. But theyed never do that, would they?
Yes, they are and always have controlled it.
http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=o2m3Y_AA6
Co
But lets forget about that, and concentrate on the very very low level things that are going on in the back streets of the tiny towns in the UK. Yes, thats the way!! Morons!

What's taken the police so long! There has been a drug problem in Boscombe for decades and it is obvious that no adequate action has been taken in all that time to eradicate the problem. I doubt that things will ever change for the better.

The current situation in Boscombe with regard to the overwhelming amount of Drug and Alcohol Dependents has been created and sustained by successive Local Councils enabling multiple Rehab/Treatment Centres to operate out from such a small suburb
This arrangement for many years suited the Local Councils who in my opinion operated a '' Policy of Containment '' i.e keeping as many Treatment Centres as possible in one area
This shortsighted, cruel arrangement
disabled addicts from breaking free of an illness they had been treated for
by placing them in the midst of a free and easy drug/drink culture
The proliferation of Bedsits and an endless supply of Social Housing enticing many people to stay in the town after treatment exacerbating the whole problem - which is not particular to Boscombe the whole Borough has a problem Boscombe is far more easily identifiable because of the Treatment Centres and the Visual Impact these have created over the years

Well done to the police for this operation, but long term Boscombe needs a dedicated drugs squad. There used to be one, but it was disbanded due to the forces of political correctness getting twitchy over the % of non-white stop/ searches and arrests.
.
I say, provided the police have justification of each stop/ search/ arrest then get on with it, regardless of colour and quota's which may be revealed in final statistics. Dont shy away from the fight just because of possibility of an accusing finger.
.
The public want police to focus on the fight against crime, and drugs is a root cause of much crime, and not to continually throw resources at persecuting motorists for nonsense.
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The dealers are well aware that Boscombe is rich pickings, with high demand and a hands-off, turn a blind eye approach from the police. Get 1 inspector, 2 sergeants and 10 PCs doing 50 search warrants a month and 100 stop searches a week - and within 2 years it would be a different area.

As prohibition in the USA in the early part of the 20th century proves, banning a product only serves to drive the supply into criminal hands.
It is virtually impossible to stem the flow of drugs whilst the trade is so profitable.
Smokers and heavy drinkers are legally entitled to enjoy the questionable
benefits of an early grave so why penalise drug users?
Legalise the sale of drugs through a carefully controlled system of licences such as the French "Tabac" system.
This would:
1) Raise enormous amounts of tax revenue.
2) Eliminate drug dealers at a stroke
3) Life shortening drugs would also help control population growth and reduce the cost of state pensions.
May sound callous but one needs to look at the "big picture".

ekimnoslen wrote:
As prohibition in the USA in the early part of the 20th century proves, banning a product only serves to drive the supply into criminal hands. It is virtually impossible to stem the flow of drugs whilst the trade is so profitable. Smokers and heavy drinkers are legally entitled to enjoy the questionable benefits of an early grave so why penalise drug users? Legalise the sale of drugs through a carefully controlled system of licences such as the French "Tabac" system. This would: 1) Raise enormous amounts of tax revenue. 2) Eliminate drug dealers at a stroke 3) Life shortening drugs would also help control population growth and reduce the cost of state pensions. May sound callous but one needs to look at the "big picture".

200g of midget gems and two grammes of cocaine please!

Brilliant.