Howard: Drugs are wrong
Conservative leader Michael Howard today vowed to drive drug dealers out of Britain with a combination of tougher sentences, more police and a major anti-drugs advertising campaign.
He promised “no sympathy” for dealers and accused Prime Minister Tony Blair of sending out mixed messages on drugs by downgrading the classification of cannabis.
Speaking at a press conference today, Mr Howard said drugs sucked youngsters into a “dark, depressing, downward spiral”.
Parents, teachers and celebrities all had a role to play in sending out the message that drugs were wrong and wrecked lives, and Britain could learn from the United States where an anti-drugs drive had produced the first fall in teenage drug use in a decade, he added.
“Today in Britain youngsters all too often get mixed messages – like Mr Blair’s downgrading of cannabis,” Mr Howard said.
“A Conservative government will reclassify cannabis so that youngsters get a clear, consistent message on drugs – they are wrong. And we’ll fund a major advertising campaign with a clear, consistent anti-drugs message: ‘Drugs are dangerous. They are illegal. They ruin lives. Do not take them.'”
Anyone convicted of dealing in hard drugs for a third time would get a mandatory seven-year minimum jail term, a provision Mr Howard introduced when Home Secretary but which he claims Labour has watered down. A private members’ bill put forward by Conservative MP Nigel Evans would restore the provision in full.
Mr Howard added: “When it comes to drug dealers there will be no sympathy. We need to arrest them. We need to lock them up. And we need to make an example of them so that every would-be drug dealer chooses another line of work.”
And he warned drug dealers: “Drugs are wrong – and if you deal in them they’ll be a heavy price to pay.”
