HOME OFFICE News
Release (104/2008) issued by The Government News Network on 20 May 2008
The Government is
launching a new crackdown on cocaine, Drugs Minister Vernon Coaker
announced today.
A £1 million pound FRANK campaign targeted at 15-18 year olds, a
commitment to the Colombian Government's Shared
Responsibility campaign and a new leaflet illustrating the dangers
of the drug are being announced to enhance the drive to tackle
cocaine use.
The FRANK campaign will make young people aware of the health and
social harms of using cocaine and aims to deglamourise the
drug's celebrity image by revealing its ugly consequences.
The campaign will use a range of media including online
advertising to reach young people with the real facts about the drug.
On Tuesday Mr Coaker will lead a summit with the representatives
of Colombian Government, the Association of Chief Police Officers,
the National Treatment Agency and the London Drug Policy Forum to
explore how the efforts to cut cocaine use can be enhanced.
Mr Coaker and the Colombian Vice President will, with former Blur
bassist Alex James, attend a Trafalgar Square exhibition that will
this Wednesday vividly demonstrate the environmental and social
destruction caused by cocaine use.
While overall drug use is at an11 year low cocaine is the only
drug which has risen in use since 1998. Although cocaine use has
in fact been stable since 2000 and fewer than five per cent of
adults have used the Class A drug in the last year, the Government
is fully determined to strengthen efforts against it.
It will do this by:
* launching a new million pound multi-media FRANK campaign later
this year with a focus on cocaine;
* issuing cocaine leaflets
for young people and drug workers to illustrate the dangers and
consequences of cocaine use;
* signing up to the Colombian
Government's Shared Responsibility campaign that highlights
the global consequences of cocaine use; and
* hosting a summit
to explore how cocaine use can be driven down.
Drugs Minister Vernon Coaker said:
"We have taken tough action against cocaine use in recent
years. More than 1,100 crack houses have been closed thanks to
powers we introduced four years ago.
"Cocaine use has been stable in recent years but it is a
very dangerous drug for users and has a devastating impact on the
people that live in producing countries. Cocaine users need to
realise that their drug use destroys more than their health; it
destroys the lives of innocent people caught up in kidnapping,
exploitation and armed violence."
"We will continue to tackle cocaine and other illegal drugs
through tough enforcement, innovate prevention campaigns,
effective education and, where necessary, tailored treatment."
Commander Simon Bray, representing ACPO drugs portfolio, said:
"Cocaine, and in particular crack cocaine, causes untold
harm, not only to individuals but to communities and society at
large. This is an issue at all levels of policing, from
cocaine's links into acquisitive crime, through the violence
associated with crack to the damage caused to neighbourhoods by
crack houses and open dealing. The police service continues to
work against the effects of this drug through its neighbourhood
policing teams, specialist units and full use of the criminal
justice system, including the drug intervention programme."
The Government continue to bear down hard on drug dealers. Last
week the Serious Organised Crime Agency announced it had seized 85
tonnes of cocaine. Police, working in tandem with communities and
local authorities, have closed over 1,100 crack houses since crack
house closure orders were introduced in January 2004.
In addition, the cocaine summit takes place during the first ever
National Tackling Drugs Week, which began on Monday, and
highlights and promotes enforcement activity to tackle drug use.
This involves hundreds of drug agencies and police officers taking
to the streets and promoting the work being done in communities to
tackle drug use.
The FRANK drug awareness campaign, which plays a crucial role in
empowering young people with knowledge of the effects of drug use,
will this Friday celebrate its fifth anniversary.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. To request the cocaine leaflet please call 020 7035 3835 or
020 7035 3535.
2. For more on the Colombian Government's Shared
Responsibility campaign go to http://www.sharedresponsibility.gov.co/.
3. National Tackling Drugs Week involves high profile enforcement
activity through to working closely with Drug Action Teams to
provide advice to the public on the dangers of drug use. It
features drug awareness sessions in Rotherham; a mobile police van
visiting Oldham communities and offering advice and support for
residents; a "rat on a rat" campaign in Wigan. For more
on the week see http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/communications-and-campaigns/tackling-drugs/NationalTacklingDrugsWeek/.