Clause 7 - Testing for presence of class A drugs

Part of Drugs Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 3:22 pm on 1 February 2005.

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Photo of Brian Iddon Brian Iddon Labour, Bolton South East 3:22, 1 February 2005

I might not have made myself completely clear. My hon. Friend is dwelling on amphetamines, but class B includes drugs such as codeine. Codeine is regularly taken by a lot of people; it is the main constituent of cough mixture, for goodness' sake. If people are being tested in police stations for hard drugs, on which we ought to be hitting down hard, as the Government are, the tests will pick up people who are on cough mixture. That would surely be a waste of resources.