Sajid Javid to unveil probe into middle-class drug use as part of serious violence crackdown
2 min read
Sajid Javid will today announce plans for a “landmark review” of drug use across Britain as part of a wider effort to crackdown on violent crime.
The Home Secretary will so no misuse or type of user will be “out of scope” from the probe, including use among “professionals” and the “small number of entrenched users who cause the most harm”.
The programme will seek to ensure that policy makers and law enforcement authorities are equipped to take on the problem after evidence found “strong links” between drugs and violent crime.
The Serious Violence Strategy, published in April of this year, reported that “illicit drug markets can drive sudden shifts in serious violence”.
Justice Secretary David Gauke and Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick are among those to have condemned the link between cocaine use among the middle-classes and rising street crime.
Mr Javid will also pledge a consultation later this year on making sectors such as health, education, social services, local government and housing, work with the police to urgently tackle the root causes of serious violence.
Elsewhere the Home Secretary will formally announce a £200m Youth Endowment Fund to “build resilience” in young people in crime hotspot areas and at risk of falling in with criminal gangs.
He will say that factors such as anti-social behaviour, aggression, truancy, drug use and living with violence at home can act as “early predictors” allowing authorities to target those in need of intervention.
Speaking ahead of his address to Conservative conference delegates in Birmingham, Mr Javid said the new “highly targeted approach” could prevent young people from getting involved in crime.
“I am committed to ending the scourge of violent crime and will combat this issue using all the tools at the government's disposal,” he said.
“We will not only deal with crime when it happens but will go further and strengthen our ability to target and prevent the root causes of criminal behaviour from finding the evidence, ensuring our services are working together and providing the right resources to the right places.”
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