New clause 1 - Inclusion of khat as a Class A drug
Drugs Bill
5:30 pm
Dr Brian Iddon (Bolton South East, Labour)
I shall discuss Brixton and will answer that point in a moment.
The Government argue that all their legislation should be based on evidence and consultation. I ask the Minister and the hon. Lady what consultation we have had with the community that largely uses khat. Khat has been brought into this country by another culture, just as the West Indians brought cannabis into the country as part of their culture, music and traditions. We should consult widely, and not only with the Somalian community. We should also consult the ACMD and others who know far more about khat than any of us do on this Committee.
I do not accept the hon. Lady's suggestion that the Brixton experiment was an utter disaster. The problem was that it was conducted here in the capital in the full glare of publicity. There were television cameras, radio, and all the international media. It was an experiment that could never have succeeded in the way in which the hon. Lady wanted it to, because it received so much publicity that it sucked dealers into Brixton. It was not carried out on the quiet in a drug-using area of Manchester. Things were wrong with it, but so far as I could tell, things were also right with it. The police, for example, could concentrate on hard drugs, and they had some success, even in Brixton.