Middle-class cocaine users are to be confronted with their victims to show how their habit fuels criminal gangs, knife crime and country lines abuse.
Sajid Javid will conduct a review of drug misuse that looks at how wealthy professionals who are ‘weekend cocaine users’ are fuelling crime and ‘sudden bursts of violence’ in British cities.
The evidence could be used to inform an awareness campaign that shows users the impact of their habit.
Sajid Javid will conduct a review of drug misuse that looks at how wealthy professionals who are ‘weekend cocaine users’ are fuelling crime and ‘sudden bursts of violence’ in British cities
The Home Secretary’s announcement follows policing minister Nick Hurd saying at an event that middle-class people using drugs should be confronted with ‘the underlying reality of their habit’, the Telegraph reported.
Ahead of his speech to the Conservative conference, Mr Javid said: ‘I am committed to ending the scourge of violent crime and will combat this issue using all the tools at the Government’s disposal.
‘We will not only deal with crime when it happens but will go further and strengthen our ability to target and prevent the root causes of criminal behaviour from finding the evidence, ensuring our services are working together and providing the right resources to the right places.’
Mr Javid is also launching a consultation on plans to ensure public sector workers in health, education, social services, local government and housing services make tackling the root causes of serious violence a top priority.
They could be asked to report early warning signs of someone at risk of falling into a life of violent crime, such as truancy, aggression, anti-social behaviour, substance misuse and criminality at home.
A £200 million youth endowment fund is being set up that will focus on violent crime hotspots.
Mr Javid condemned recreational drug use among the wealthy for being responsible for warfare among gangs, including those running county lines networks, by bumping up demand
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: ‘Violent crime is rising and recorded drug-related crime is surging, but all the Tories can offer is a review, yet another consultation and a £200 million fund that doesn’t replace the money they have already cut from local authorities.
‘It’s no use Sajid Javid saying health, education, social services, local government, housing and others are at the root cause of violent crime.
‘He is part of a Government that has been implementing damaging austerity measures in all of these areas for more than eight years.’
Mr Javid also revealed that demand for drugs led to ‘county lines gangs’ luring children as young as 12 into becoming couriers – and unwittingly ensnared in a web of brutality and intimidation.
It is believed there are more than 1,400 county line gangs and that they are making an estimated £1.8 billion annual total profit. County lines relates to the supply of class A drugs (primarily crack cocaine and heroin) from an urban hub into rural towns or county locations, using a branded mobile phone line.
Gangs based in Britain’s biggest cities groom boys and girls into becoming ‘drug mules’ to flood market towns and seaside resorts with heroin and crack cocaine. File photo
Gangs based in Britain’s biggest cities groom boys and girls into becoming ‘drug mules’ to flood market towns and seaside resorts with heroin and crack cocaine.
In April, the Government’s flagship Serious Violence Strategy highlighted evidence that illicit drug markets drove sudden surges in appalling violence as gangs competed for lucrative markets.
In an interview with the Daily Mail ahead of his Tory conference speech today, Mr Javid said: ‘We need to make people understand that if you are a middle-class drug user and you sort of think, ‘Well, I’m not doing any damage, I know what I’m doing,’ well, there’s a whole supply chain that goes into that, youths whose lives have been abused, the county lines, other drug takers being abused, crime being encouraged.
‘You are not innocent – no one is innocent if they are taking illegal drugs. I’m very concerned by the rise that we’ve been seeing in serious violence and I wish there were some easy explanations about what was causing it.
‘Like so many of these things the causes are complex. But a large chunk of it is around county lines gangs, the changes that have been taking place in drug markets.’
Violent crime surged by 21 per cent last year, with 1.3million offences recorded by police.
Mr Javid said the review will look at who is buying illegal substances as well as who is selling them.
It will focus on the use of drugs by professionals, such as City workers, and will investigate what drugs people are taking, how often and where they get them from.