Graphic: the global drugs trade

Tough law enforcement action by the police and Customs has failed to reduce the demand for illegal drugs, according to one of the most comprehensive reports into drugs in Britain, published today.

The £5.3 billion drug trade has proved “remarkably” resilient in the face of government attempts to disrupt markets and reduce supplies at a cost of millions of pounds each year, it claims. The report, by the UK Drug Policy Commission, said: “Despite significant drug and asset seizures and convictions of traffickers and dealers, drug markets have proven to be extremely resilient. They are highly fluid and adapt effectively to government and law enforcement interventions.”

The study makes a grim assessment of the efforts by police, Revenue & Customs and the Serious Organised Crime Agency to curb the quantity of drugs that are being smuggled into the country and offered for sale on the streets. “Although the availability of controlled drugs is restricted by definition, it appears that additional enforcement efforts have had little adverse effect on the availability of illicit drugs,” the report says.

The price of heroin, cannabis resin, Ecstasy and cocaine have fallen, indicating that big drug seizures are having little effect on the quantity of illegal drugs available for distribution, it says. The heroin and cocaine

seized by the authorities in 2003-04 amounted to an estimated 12 per cent and 9 per cent respectively of the overall market in Britain. The Cabinet Office has estimated that there would need to be sustained seizure rates of between 60 and 80 per cent to put major traffickers out of business.

“Seizure rates on this scale have never been achieved, and both attaining and sustaining them would have major logistical and resources implications for law enforcement agencies,” the report says.

The Government is now spending £1.5 billion a year on its anti-drug strategy, including £380 million to reduce the supply and £573 million for drug treatment. This does not include the wider criminal justice costs of drug-related crime, which were estimated at £4 billion in 2003-04.

The report describes a drug market involving an estimated 300 major importers, 3,000 wholesalers and 70,000 street dealers.

A two-tier market in cocaine is also developing, the report claims. Affluent users are offered high-quality supplies, while street dealers sell a lower-grade version to the poor and young.

The figures also suggested that suppliers are diluting the purity of the powder cocaine to make it cheaper for younger people, where the market is expanding.The low-grade cocaine is often mixed with other drugs. Cut-price cocaine, which sells at about £30 a gram, is reported by the charity Drugscope to be available in almost every part of Britain, while the higher quality is offered for £50 a gram.

The average purity of cocaine seized at airports is about 67 per cent but by the time it is sold on the streets this has dropped to 30 per cent. The most common additives are boric acid, which is used as an antiseptic, procaine, used to ease pain, hydroxyzine, to treat anxiety, and tetramisole, a substance used to destroy tapeworms.

Half of all cannabis consumed in England and Wales is now grown on a commercial scale in homes and business premises around Britain, including many quiet residential streets.

“Cannabis factories or farms organised predominantly by Vietnamese criminal groups (often using illegal immigrants, including children, to cultivate these crops) are an established source of production of cannabis on a commmercial scale,” the report says.

It points to the emergence of West Africa as a staging point for drug smuggling and the increased use of British-born women to bring drugs into the country, after action against foreign “drug mules”.

The report calls for more research to establish the long-term effectiveness, and value for money offered by various parts of the Government’s drug strategy.

The report says that the police and other enforcement agencies can help to reduce the impact of drug markets by focusing on areas causing most damage, such as the sex trade, human trafficking, gang violence and corruption. It suggests that a concerted approach involving police and local councils could include securing vacant buildings and other spaces where drug dealing occurs, removing pay phones and installing more closed-circuit television.

The UK Drug Policy Commission was founded last year as an independent organisation to provide analysis of the country’s drug policy. It was provided with £1 million for three years by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, set up by Ian Fairbairn, a leading City figure, in memory of his wife.

Times Recommends

• The bright side of this winter rain
• Story behind the picture: Snow Leopard, 2008
• Times Charity Appeal: The Place2Be