The British government is to press ahead with new powers for compulsory drug-testing of suspects arrested for offences such as theft or burglary, it was confirmed today.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has asked the Home Office to examine whether police should be able to test suspects for heroine and cocaine if they are arrested for offences regarded as being related to drug abuse.
Under existing powers, suspects can only be required to undergo a drugs test if they are actually charged with an offence. But ministers believe that this allows drug users, who are released without charge, to slip through the net.
Testing suspects, regardless of whether they are charged, would enable problem drug abusers to be identified at an early stage and diverted away from crime and into treatment.
With around three out of four crack cocaine and heroin users claiming that they commit crime to fund their habits, and 75 per cent of the 100,000 most persistent offenders also involved in drug misuse, ministers believe it could be an important new power.
But the director of think-tank Re-Thinking Crime & Punishment, Mr Rob Allen, said: "Drug-testing people, who have not been charged with a criminal offence, is unlikely to prove effective in reducing crime, unless there is timely treatment available for those who test positive.
"Although there may be up to half a million problem drug-users in Britain, there are fewer than 2,000 residential rehabilitation places across the country," he said. "Finding a fix to the drug problem lies in making treatment available on demand, rather than drug-testing people who have not even been charged with a criminal offence."
PA