Credit where it is due, but...

I have recently become aware of the figures for RECORDED crimes, - those that are reported and the police pursue to some extent or other, for the period April-June 2007. The figures relate to England and Wales.

All types of crime seem to be diminishing - crime generally by 7%, robbery by 9%, sexual offences by 9%, criminal damage by 10%. The one exception is the number of drug offences, which increased by 14%, up from 48,300 in 2006 to 55,000.

Recorded crimes are those which the public bothers to report, in some cases in order to obtain a crime number for insurance purposes, or the police bother to prosecute in some way. If there was no insurance, people may not have bothered and the crime will have gone unreported and there may also have been cases where the police decided not to proceed, because of the time and form-filling involved.

We must not be churlish. If the figure is falling for all types except drugs, then this is something to rejoice about. But wait for the Labour publicity machine to claim all the credit!

What are we to make of the drugs increase? The Home Office claims that there is no real increase but merely shows the police more willing to issue cautions for cannabis possession. In which case, with the Prime Minister talking (which he is good at) of reversing the classification of the drug back to category "B", we may expect more prosecutions? Perhaps he will also consider changing the therapies at the drug centres where all sorts of incentives, including hard drugs, have been offered.

Drugs do not just affect the the dug taker, and future costs of treatment and rehabilitation, important though these things are, they are also a major cause of other crimes - especially burglary and robbery generally. The addict, often unable to work, needs a significant income to support his addiction.

We'll give the Government at least two cheers when they get their policies and actions on drugs into some sort of rational and effective state. They have pinched many of the Tory policies already, and they could do a lot better if they pinched the drugs policy as well!

Brian R.