cannabisnews.com: Crack Trade Violence 'Hits UK's Poorest'





Crack Trade Violence 'Hits UK's Poorest'
Posted by CN Staff on June 24, 2002 at 15:20:24 PT
Crack cocaine is linked to street crime & violence
Source: BBC News 
"Extraordinary" levels of violence are hitting some of Britain's poorest communities as the use of crack cocaine spirals, the government has warned. At the first conference on tackling crack abuse Drugs Minister Bob Ainsworth said black communities and the young were often at greatest risk. The leader of Operation Trident, which deals with black on black crime, said gangs importing the drug, often from Jamaica, are clearly linked to gun crime in Britain and must be stopped. 
Drugs campaign groups called on the government to put treatment for addicts on a par with that for heroin users. Crack cocaine preys on communities that are already disadvantaged and discriminated against. -- Lee Jasper They also said that crime associated with crack would continue until it was legalised and given to addicts over the counter. In Scotland the Drugs Enforcement Agency reported a threefold increase in seizures of heroin and cocaine and claimed it had disrupted more than 70 gangs. 'Power and respect' Speaking in Birmingham, Mr Ainsworth said police must build strong links with communities, to help people drive dealers out of their area. He said crack abuse was highest among black people, unlike heroin which is used by more white people. "The black community does have a problem," Mr Ainsworth said. "The levels of violence with the black community are quite extraordinary." 'Intimidation' Mr Ainsworth said crack is especially difficult to deal with because the levels of addiction are so high and treatment is not as well understood as it is for heroin. He told BBC Radio Four's Today programme that in areas where police had the support of the community the fight against crack had been very effective. The minister said Operation Trident has had success fighting the crack trade when information has been supplied by members of the communities affected. Commander Alan Brown, the head of Operation Trident, said there was a growing culture among young people to carry guns and sell drugs "in a way they think leads to power and respect". He said the trade's links to Jamaican gangs "cannot be ignored" and warned that lives were being put at risk by the practice of using 'drugs mules', who smuggle crack into Britain by swallowing packages. Mr Brown wants police to work with communities to help them "reject the intimidation and violence to secure a safer society". Lee Jasper from the Greater London Authority said: "Crack cocaine preys on communities that are already disadvantaged and discriminated against. " 'Turf wars' Danny Kushlick of campaign group Transform said the government needs to reassess its whole drugs policy, starting with the admission that making drugs illegal does not work. It's certainly associated with more violent crime and particularly thefts, robberies and burglaries. -- Steve Stevens - drugs worker He said: "If you look at what happens when you hand the trade over to international organised crime and unregulated dealers you see all the problems the government then tries to solve. "So, turf wars, property crime, street dealing, access to drugs by young people - those are the problems that are actually caused by prohibition." Steve Stevens, who runs a private drugs clinic, said serious crimes tend to be linked with the use of crack. Crack Facts:  Sold as small crystals to smoke Each 'rock' costs £20 to £25 Addictive and causes heart problems Can cause paranoia and aggression He said it also acts as an anaesthetic, adding: "Therefore if (users) become violent and other people respond then they are less likely to feel hurt while that's happening." John Witton, a researcher with Action on Addiction, said more research was needed to find the best ways to treat crack addicts. He said drug treatment services are largely geared toward heroin use, and while there is no "ready pharmacological solution for crack, like methadone for heroin use, we know that crack can be successfully treated." Mr Witton said research showed crack was used by half of people interviewed by the Probation Service about drugs. Source: BBC News (UK Web)Published: Monday, June 24, 2002Copyright: 2002 BBC Website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/ Contact: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/talking_point/Related Articles & Web Sites:Transformhttp://www.transform-drugs.org.uk/Drugs Uncovered: Observer Special http://freedomtoexhale.com/dc.htmBrixton? Right Now It's a 24-hr Crack Supermarkethttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13205.shtmlPolice Chiefs Set To Extend Soft Line on Drugs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13125.shtml The Police and Hard Drugs: The Cleveland Report http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11520.shtml 
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Comment #6 posted by Industrial Strength on June 25, 2002 at 13:10:07 PT
guns in the UK
The criminals over the pond don't have such an affinity for hand guns as their American counter parts. Hand guns are the only pseudo "outlawed" guns in the UK (besides the more universal illegal ones). I do agree with the "if guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns" credo, but I decided to post this frivolous comment regardless.
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on June 25, 2002 at 10:13:50 PT:
In anything, this proves how right we've been
all this time. The DrugWar interdiction balloon got squeezed here...and is bulging over into Merrye Olde England and the rest of the UK.The 'crack epidemic' essentially burnt itself out with the eventual 'burn-out' of it's users, so there was practically no real treatment paradigm in place to specifically deal with it. What the Britons are dealing with now has already been very carefully documented here in this country. It remains to be seen whether they will make the same mistakes we did...or whether they will see that their Lambeth experiment has pulled the teeth of the big-time dealers and the possible violence that always hovered in the background, and do the same with 'hard' drugs.If they want to avoid the chance of running gun battles in their streets, (and I can't help but add that in Britain, 'when guns are outlawed, only the outlaws will have guns' is proving only too true) then they will have to 'go all the way' and legalize all presently illicit drugs. Anything less, and the carnage will be on their heads...as I said, all they have to do is look at the US to see where their future lies if they don't scrap those laws...
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Comment #4 posted by Industrial Strength on June 24, 2002 at 23:27:32 PT
You know what the real problem is...
All that rap music.
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Comment #3 posted by p4me on June 24, 2002 at 23:16:15 PT
DOJ stats do not have 2001yet
These crime facts come from the Department of Justice website: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/dcf.pdf and on that page listed under the heading: Drugs and Crime Facts, 2001. 2001, NCJ 165148.This is from page 48. Column 1 is cocaine and heroin combined, column 2 is marijuana, column 3 is synthetic drugs, and 4 is other. I do not guess it is possible to figure arrest for underage use of T&A.
    
1982 87,900 486,700 27,000 81,100
1983 152,100 403,500 19,800 86,000
1984 184,200 418,000 21,300 85,000
1985 243,400 446,300 24,300 97,400
1986 337,900 362,600 24,700 107,100
1987 431,200 375,000 28,100 112,500
1988 600,700 392,800 34,700 127,100
1989 735,300 394,900 27,200 204,300
1990 588,300 326,900 21,800 152,500
1991 555,500 282,800 20,200 141,400
1992 565,200 341,200 21,300 138,600
1993 563,200 382,900 22,500 157,700
1994 635,200 486,500 27,000 216,200
1995 620,000 590,400 29,500 236,200
1996 602,500 647,700 30,100 241,000
1997 565,300 695,200 41,200 283,500
1998 570,600 682,900 45,200 260,400
1999 528,600 704,800 47,500 251,300
2000 529,200 734,500 52,100 262,200
Source: FBI, Crime in the United States, annual, Uniform
Crime Reports  Total drug arrest for 1980-2000 are on page 46-47:
1980-00
1980 580,900
1981 559,900
1982 676,000
1983 661,400
1984 708,400
1985 811,400
1986 824,100
1987 937,400
1988 1,155,200
1989 1,361,700
1990 1,089,500
1991 1,010,000
1992 1,066,400
1993 1,126,300
1994 1,351,400
1995 1,476,100
1996 1,506,200
1997 1,583,600
1998 1,559,100
1999 1,532,200
2000 1,579,600
Source: FBI, Crime in the
United States, annual,
Uniform Crime ReportsAnother interesting presentation from page 38 is noteworthy because tobacco is left off the list and one in three high school seniors might be smokers:Reported drug and alcohol use by high
school seniors, 2001
Used within the last:
Drugs: 12 months* 30 days
Alcohol 73.3% 49.8%
Marijuana 37.0 22.4
Stimulants 10.9 5.6
Hallucinogens 8.4 3.2
Other opiates 6.7 3.0
Sedatives 5.7 2.8
Inhalants 4.5 1.7
Tranquilizers 6.5 3.0
Cocaine 4.8 2.1
Steroids 2.4 1.3
Heroin 0.9 0.4  
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Comment #2 posted by p4me on June 24, 2002 at 20:18:58 PT
FBI crime report
The FBI crime reports cover 6 month periods. I looked at the first six months last night and it had crime going down. Now they have a yearly report and crime is up and who is there to tell you. I would provide a link to the 6 month report but it has now been combined and I cannot find it. Anyway, I looked at the crime report and there is no mention of any kind of drug related arrest, much less marijuana. It is about a 5 page report that can be viewed in PDF format: http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel02/01bprelimcius.htmHow many marijuana related arrest were there and is this really the age of information or not? 1,2For Release
MONDAY, JUNE 24, 2002
FBI NATIONAL PRESS 202-324-3691Crime Trends, 2001 Preliminary Figures (pdf). You must have the latest version of Acrobat Reader 5.0 + to view this document. You can download this free reader from www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html.
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Comment #1 posted by p4me on June 24, 2002 at 19:46:34 PT
crime and crack cocaine conquer front pages in UK
There is big news from the Guardian Unlimited in the UK about the huge problem with crack cocaine: http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,2763,743288,00.html : "Crack dealers threaten more cities with violence:
Poor and black communities at cocaine's frontline"
Nick Hopkins, crime correspondent,Tuesday June 25, 2002There is a second article titled: "Growing impact of drug from abroad" by Nick Hopkins on Tuesday June 25, 20021,2
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