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Drugs: Breaking the Cycle

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Drugs: Breaking the Cycle House of Commons Home Affairs Committee Drugs: Breaking the Cycle Ninth Report of Session 2012–13 Volume II Oral and written evidence Additional written evidence is contained in Volume III, available on the Committee website at www.parliament.uk/homeaffairscom Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 3 December 2012 HC 184-II Published on 10 December 2012 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £20.50 Home Affairs Committee The Home Affairs Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Home Office and its associated public bodies. Current membership Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP (Labour, Leicester East) (Chair) Nicola Blackwood MP (Conservative, Oxford West and Abingdon) James Clappison MP (Conservative, Hertsmere) Michael Ellis MP (Conservative, Northampton North) Lorraine Fullbrook MP (Conservative, South Ribble) Dr Julian Huppert MP (Liberal Democrat, Cambridge) Steve McCabe MP (Labour, Birmingham Selly Oak) Bridget Phillipson MP (Labour, Houghton and Sunderland South) Mark Reckless MP (Conservative, Rochester and Strood) Karl Turner MP (Labour, Kingston upon Hull East) Mr David Winnick MP (Labour, Walsall North) The following Member was also a member of the Committee during the Parliament. Rt Hon Alun Michael MP (Labour & Co-operative, Cardiff South and Penarth) Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publication The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/homeaffairscom. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Tom Healey (Clerk), Richard Benwell (Second Clerk), Ruth Davis (Committee Specialist), Eleanor Scarnell (Committee Specialist), Andy Boyd (Senior Committee Assistant), Michelle Garratty (Committee Assistant), Iwona Hankin (Committee Support Officer) and Alex Paterson (Select Committee Media Officer). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Home Affairs Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 3276; the Committee’s email address is [email protected]. Witnesses Tuesday 24 January 2012 Page Sir Richard Branson, Global Commission on Drugs Policy, and Dame Ruth Dreifuss, Global Commission on Drugs Policy Ev 1 Dame Ruth Runciman, Chair, and Roger Howard, Chief Executive, UK Drug Policy Commission Ev 8 Tuesday 21 February 2012 Paul Tuohy, Mentor, and Maryon Stewart, the Angelus Foundation Ev 14 Wendy Dawson, Chief Executive, The Ley Community, Dominic Ruffy, RehabGrads and Adam Langer Ev 19 Professor John Strang, Director of the National Addictions Centre Ev 24 Thursday 22 March 2012 Professor Averil Mansfield, Chair of the Board of Science, British Medical Association, Dr Owen Bowden-Jones, Chair, Faculty of Addictions, Royal College of Psychiatrists, and Dr Clare Gerada, Chair, Royal College Of General Practitioners Ev 28 Paul Hayes, Chief Executive, National Treatment Agency Ev 34 Tuesday 24 April 2012 Russell Brand, former drug-user, and Chip Somers, Chief Executive, Focus 12 Ev 39 Mary Brett, former Vice-President of Eurad, Member of Prisons and Addictions Forum at the Centre for Policy Studies, Trustee of CanSS, Kathy Gyngell, Chair, Prisons and Addictions Forum and Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies and Peter Hitchens, journalist and author Ev 44 Tuesday 19 June 2012 Professor David Nutt, Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs and former Chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and Dr Les King, former ISCD and former ACMD member Ev 52 Professor Les Iversen, Professor Ray Hill, and Annette Dale-Perera, Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs Ev 60 Tuesday 3 July 2012 Richard Bradshaw, Director of Offender Health, National Offender Management Service and Digby Griffith, Director of National Operational Services, National Offender Management Service Ev 65 Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Ev 68 Tuesday 11 July 2012 Danny Kushlick, Transform Drug Policy Foundation and Niamh Eastwood, Release Ev 76 Chief Constable Tim Hollis CBE, QPM, Association of Chief Police Officers, and Tom Lloyd, former Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire Ev 82 Trevor Pearce, Director General, Serious Organised Crime Agency Ev 89 Tuesday 30 October 2012 Lord Turner, Chairman, Financial Services Authority and Tracey McDermott, Financial Services Authority Ev 93 List of printed written evidence 1 Dr Leslie King Ev 99, Ev 103 2 Mary Brett Ev 104, Ev 107 3 UK Drug Policy Commission Ev 109 4 Mentor Ev 117 5 National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse Ev 121, Ev 124 6 Serious Organised Crime Agency Ev 125, Ev 128, Ev 129 7 Tom Lloyd Ev 129 8 Release Ev 133 9 Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs Ev 138 10 Angelus Foundation Ev 139 11 Royal College of Psychiatrists Ev 143 12 Kathy Gyngell Ev 147, Ev 151 13 Transform Drug Policy Foundation Ev 152, Ev 157 14 Adam Langer Ev 161 15 RehabGrads Ev 165 16 Peter Hitchens Ev 168 17 Home Office Ev 170, Ev 176 18 Association of Chief Police Officers Ev 177 19 Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs Ev 181, Ev 188 20 Russell Brand Ev 189 21 Ministry of Justice Ev 191 22 Royal College of General Practitioners Ev 194 23 Professor John Strang Ev 195 24 Transcript of conference held in Portcullis House on 10 September 2012 Ev 196 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [SO] Processed: [07-12-2012 13:47] Job: 019847 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/019847/019847_o001_db_120124 Drugs corrected.xml Home Affairs Committee: Evidence Ev 1 Oral evidence Taken before the Home Affairs Committee on Tuesday 24 January 2012 Members present: Keith Vaz (Chair) Nicola Blackwood Alun Michael Lorraine Fullbrook Mark Reckless Dr Julian Huppert Mr David Winnick Steve McCabe ________________ Examination of Witnesses Witnesses: Sir Richard Branson, Global Commission on Drug Policy, and Dame Ruth Dreifuss, Global Commission on Drug Policy, gave evidence. Chair: I invite our two witnesses to come to the dais. Governments deal with drugs. First, drug policy May I ask members of the Committee to declare any should be based on scientific evidence and empirical interests over and above what is in the Register of data. Secondly, drug policy should focus on the rights Members’ Interests? of citizens and on protecting public health to stop Dr Huppert: I am vice-chair of the all-party unnecessary suffering. Thirdly, Governments should parliamentary group on drug policy reform. take a flexible approach to drug policy co-ordination, Nicola Blackwood: I am patron of the Ley and Governments around the world have started to Community, which is a drugs and alcohol recognise the waste and the human toll of our existing rehabilitation centre in Oxfordshire. approach. There are models to look at such as Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal, Q1 Chair: Thank you. where decriminalisation 10 years ago has led to a Sir Richard, Federal Councillor Dreifuss, thank you large reduction in heroin use and other drug use, and very much for coming to give evidence today. This is massive drops in property crimes, HIV infections the Committee’s first evidence session in our major and violence. inquiry into drugs. The last time the Committee I hope that this hearing can start a new debate around considered this question was 10 years ago; in fact, I drugs policy and we look forward to discussing this think only Mr Winnick is a survivor of the last report. with you today. We need obviously to reduce the We made a number of recommendations, not all of crime, health and social problems associated with which were accepted by the Government then, or drug markets in whatever way is the most effective. indeed have been accepted now. We will be looking Also, if I may just ask Ruth to say a couple of words again at those recommendations and also at the herself. development of drug policy over the past 10 years. As we all know, the number of people who use drugs has Q2 Chair: Federal Councillor, could you be very increased enormously and therefore the work of the brief because we are going to ask you a lot of Commission is of great interest to us. questions. You were for 10 years the Chairman of Sir Richard, in your article in The Daily Telegraph your own Committee in Switzerland, so you know that yesterday, you said that that the war on drugs had been Members are keen to ask questions. lost and basically that policymakers all over the world Dame Ruth Dreifuss: Exactly, so I just want to say had spent a trillion dollars on fighting this war to no on which points I can give some evidence from my effect. Why did you say that? experience and as a member of the Global Sir Richard Branson: We wondered whether we Commission. As you say, I was for 10 years Minister could make literally just a 30-second statement, just of Health and, as such, responsible for drug policy in to open up, if that is possible. Switzerland. During the time of my responsibility, we Chair: Yes, certainly. introduced a change in the law and introduced new Sir Richard Branson: First, I would like to thank you kinds of harm reduction measures and treatments so, and the members of the Home Affairs Select in this field, I think I can give you some evidence you Committee for inviting Ruth and myself to give want to hear. evidence on the findings of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. We understand that this is the first Q3 Chair: That is why you are here—both you and hearing for 10 years, and we welcome the opportunity Sir Richard—to answer questions on the commission, to give evidence and to answer questions.
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