Clause 10 - Drug testing for under-eighteens
Criminal Justice Bill
6:45 pm
Mr Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield, Conservative)
We come now to an important clause, which deals with drug testing for under-18s. For reasons that are clear from the debate just past, I fully accept that drug taking is a serious problem, especially among under-18s, and the amendments in this group are designed to probe the reasoning behind the Government's approach. We have certain concerns about the way in which drug testing for under-18s will work in practice.
Amendment No. 21 would change the lower age for testing from 14 to 12. I have no fixed view on the issue, but the purpose behind the clause seems to be to ensure that, on arrest, an opportunity exists to test juveniles for drugs. There is ample evidence that drug misuse starts before the age of 14 and, in my experience, it is perfectly likely that children of 12 will be brought into police stations. Considering those circumstances, will the Minister explain why the age 14 has been chosen as the cut-off point rather than some other age? Equally, other amendments would provide for a higher cut-off age, and the Committee should consider those possibilities. It is important that the Committee should have an opportunity to discuss that.
The other issue that arises in clause 10 and this large group of amendments relates to amendment No. 96, which concerns appropriate adults and their presence. The presence of appropriate adults at police stations when young people are being dealt with is an important safeguard. Therefore, I am slightly puzzled as to why the age of 17 has been chosen as the cut-off point, rather than the age of 18 being applied in this particular circumstance.
There are wider concerns. As was made clear to me at a briefing that I received from the Children's Society and from the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders, there is anxiety about the,
frankly, invasive nature of the procedures that are involved. To put it bluntly, if a person is asked to provide a urine sample, someone will be standing around waiting for it to be provided. That is what goes on in police stations. To apply that procedure to juveniles requires certain safeguards to be put in place.