Have your say on drugs
People in Warwickshire are being given the opportunity to have their say on the issue of drugs, as part of a national consultation being carried out by the Home Office.
Warwickshire’s very own Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) is co-ordinating the county’s response to the national consultation and would like to know what local people think about important issues such as:
• Should the police and local communities be given more legal powers to tackle drugs e.g. enhanced stop and search, cautioning and custody powers?
• Should cannabis return to being a Class B drug (it was down-graded to Class C in 2004), with offenders receiving tougher penalties?
Kit Leck, Manager of the Warwickshire DAAT said: “This is the largest ever consultation on the National Drugs Strategy and the Warwickshire Drug and Alcohol Action Team is currently gathering evidence to prepare a response on behalf of residents, policy makers and service providers in Warwickshire.
“Whilst the process has been driven by government, we need to understand the views of Warwickshire people and ultimately put in place services that are important, as well as establish what needs to be done next.”
A short questionnaire, asking people what they think about some of the main issues raised in the consultation, has been launched on the Warwickshire DAAT website at http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/drugs.
Visitors to the website should click on the link "How can I be part of the Home Office’s consultation on the National Drugs Strategy?"
Kit Leck continued: “We would encourage people to complete this as all results will be considered by the Warwickshire DAAT and its partners before committing our response.”
Completed questionnaires should be returned to the team by September 14th. The final response will be posted on the website by the end of October.