Middle-class drug users are to be targeted as part of a 10-year strategy announced by Boris Johnson’s government, with a heavy focus on war-on-drugs era punishment.
Labelled as so-called “lifestyle” users of class A drugs, those who are caught using could face losing their passports or driving licenses under new proposals that have been designed to target wealthy professionals who the government argues are driving exploitative practices with their demand for certain substances.
As part of the new punishments, police officers will be handed new powers to go through drug dealers’ phones and contact their customers with warnings about drug use in a bid to spp them into changing their behaviour.
The 10-year drug strategy has been announced with a heavy focus on targeting users and suppliers, including gangs behind the so-called ‘county lines’ phenomenon which often sees young people turned into cross-country mules.
Niamh Eastwood, executive director of thinktank Release, said: “While increased funding for drug treatment is welcomed, the focus on more punitive sentences for people who supply drugs is a continuation of a tired tough-on-drugs narrative, one that we have had in the UK for decades.”
She added: “This failed policy will do little to address the high rates of drug-related deaths, which over the last decade have increased year on year, with some of the highest rates in Europe.”
