Orders of the Day — Drugs Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 5:48 pm on 18 January 2005.

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Photo of Ken Purchase Ken Purchase Labour/Co-operative, Wolverhampton North East 5:48, 18 January 2005

Indeed, Madam Deputy Speaker. The question of the police powers granted by the Bill is interesting. The police have many duties and it seems to me that, unless we tackle these problems at source, we shall be placing a load on the police, which is bound to detract from their other important work. We should not exclude from consideration the issue of drunken behaviour, which is a serious problem, as are burglaries and many other crimes that are being committed in our communities as we speak.

To conclude, it is noble and proper that the Bill should tackle the problems of drug addiction and all the harm that it causes. However, it is even more important to look at how society operates in order to understand how the opportunities are given to the criminal classes to squeeze those who live in poor circumstances. As I say, that is far more important than the Bill itself. I wish the Bill well, but I know that when it is passed and the real work starts, we will still have serious underlying problems—in our nation and perhaps elsewhere—that will ultimately have to be dealt with in social and economic, rather than clinical, terms.