Cut crime by giving addicts hard drugs on prescription - police chief

Key quote

"If we could help addicts to get a fix on the state rather than from dealers, then it's possible we could stop them housebreaking and thieving." - JOHN VINE, TAYSIDE CHIEF CONSTABLE

Story in full ONE of Scotland's top police officers called yesterday for hard drugs such as heroin to be prescribed to addicts who have turned to crime to feed their habit.

John Vine, Tayside's Chief Constable, is believed to be the most senior officer in Scotland to back the proposal. He said: "We need to consider things that have perhaps been unpalatable in the past, such as the prescribing of class A drugs to chaotic users.

"If we could help addicts to get a fix on the state rather than from dealers, then it's possible we could stop them housebreaking and thieving."

He admitted enforcement had failed to make a dent in the illegal drugs trade or stem the rising tide of drug-related crime, despite seizures of hard narcotics in his area tripling in the past year.

But his radical suggestion was lambasted by experts, who claimed the scheme could tempt addicts into committing crimes just so they could get drugs.

Mr Vine was speaking after Tayside Police's annual report revealed a three-fold increase in seizures of hard drugs compared with the previous year. Drug- related deaths rose from 29 to 36.

Mr Vine said as much as 75 per cent of property crime was believed to be drug-related. But he insisted enforcement could not, by itself, deal with the rising use of hard drugs.

"If we do not reduce demand [for drugs], there will always be people coming in with more to supply," he said. "I am suggesting that we could have a pilot in my area of prescribing Class A substances to chaotic users".

Mr Vine - awarded a CBE in the Queen's birthday honours list - also called for special drugs courts to be established.

He warned: "We are not going to make progress unless certain things are taken out of the 'too difficult' box."

He will now seek meetings with ministers and health authorities in a bid to hammer out a long-term solution.

However, his call was condemned as "a counsel of despair" by

Professor Neil McKeganey, head of drug misuse research at Glasgow University, who said: "This would be an extremely risky initiative to develop...you do that, you're basically legalising heroin."

He said moves to prescribe heroin to the most chaotic users could increase crime, because addicts who had not come to the attention of the police could be tempted to commit offences to get free supplies of drugs. He went on: "We bear a responsibility for our addict population to provide treatments which enable them to get off drugs and start to make a contribution to society and to gain employment and education.

"This is not an answer to any of that - it's merely a proposal to reduce inconvenience to other people."

Prof McKeganey said Mr Vine's views were also a tacit admission that Scotland's huge and expensive methadone treatment programme had been a failure.

He said academic studies had shown the most effective way of treating addicts was by residential rehabilitation programmes. But little cash went on that kind of treatment, while more than £15 million was spent providing methadone to about a third of Scotland's 22,000 registered addicts.

Fergus Ewing, the community safety minister, appeared to distance himself from Mr Vine. He said: "There are currently no plans in Scotland to promote the medical prescribing of class A drugs for long-term addicts.

"However, I agree with John Vine that we must have a coherent policy that detains in prison the dangerous in society, but looks to treat the troubled - like drug addicts."

• Drug addicts will be able to identify online the best treatment available for them when Mr Ewing, launches Scotland's first national drugs directory today.

The site will enable drug users and their families to find treatment centres and see whether abstinence or methadone prescription are offered.

FOR

PROPONENTS of giving addicts drugs on the NHS argue the UK's attitude to drugs has been shaped by "moral panic" rather than rational analysis.

Some studies have argued government policy should focus on harm reduction and even called for the creating of state-run shooting galleries to ensure addicts can take drugs safely. Some experts argue that, if drug-taking does not harm others, criminal sanctions should not be applied and prison should be reserved for serious drug-related crimes.

It has also been claimed that Britain's drugs policy is flawed as politicians fear being labelled "soft on crime."

AGAINST

OPPONENTS of loosening Scotland's tight control of drugs insist that heroin on prescription will send out the wrong message to users.

Some experts said that the chance of free drugs could even increase crime instead of lowering it as addicts could use crime to get on prescription programmes. They say such schemes risk "turning over control of prescription to addicts" because they would have to be prescribed enough drugs to match their illegal usage.

Doctors also argue it would be difficult to restrict the scheme to heroin alone, leading to the spectre of cocaine and crack on the NHS.

Thoughtful, respected, but no stranger to controversy

JOHN VINE has proved to be one of Scotland's most thoughtful - and controversial - police officers since he was appointed Tayside's chief constable in November 2000.

He has taken on the likes of Jeremy Clarkson over speeding, lambasted sexism within the police and successfully led the policing operation at the Gleneagles G8 Summit in 2005.

However, the Yorkshireman caused uproar with a joke at an after-dinner speech last year about teenage suicide bombers that ended: "Kids blow up very quickly these days."

He later apologised for that remark, but has been willing to court controversy deliberately when he deemed it necessary.

Mr Vine, who was president of the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland from 2003-4, accused motoring journalists like Clarkson of encouraging speeding by highlighting the "excitement associated with fast cars".

He also studied for an MSc degree in human resources at Abertay University in his spare time, studying the problems facing women police officers.

Mr Vine found a "glass ceiling" which made it difficult for talented female officers to reach the top of their profession. His finest hour came when the policing of the G8 Summit at Gleneagles in 2005 received worldwide praise. The relatively low level of violence was part of the reason Mr Vine was awarded a CBE in this year's Queen's birthday honours list.

Mr Vine, who is married with children, received the Queen's Police Medal in 2002 for distinguished police service.