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Anti-Drug Awareness

I agree with the hon. Gentleman's intervention. The problem of drugs can be more effectively dealt with by people who have been on the other side of the fence, as it were—and that is the case in relation to a range of social problems, not just substance misuse. It is important to remember that. On the points about prisons that the hon. Gentleman and a number of other hon. Members made, we are increasing the amount of money spent on prison education during the next three years by £70 million. That is a considerable and welcomed increase in investment. On the points raised by the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake), I have talked about the balance between early intervention, education and enforcement, but it is not a matter of making a choice between those; we need to consider a menu of options. A health decision needs to be made about what is most appropriate for an individual. On national tackling drugs week, as with all the work we do, we are continually evaluating what is effective and what works best. The hon. Gentleman will know that the research project Blueprint is looking into the effectiveness of drugs education and he might be interested to know that we expect to publish those findings in the next month. That research will be helpful. We greatly value the advice that the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs gives the Government, but if the hon. Gentleman was in my place and was the Minister with responsibility for the issue he would, in the end, with his colleagues in Government, be charged with the responsibility of making a decision. We get advice—all Governments get advice all the time—but in the end we have to make the decision. The hon. Member for Hornchurch was right about the advice that we received from the ACMD, but we received other advice, not least from the police and service users themselves who said other things. We reflected on and balanced that advice, and in the end made the decision that we have. The hon. Gentleman asked for an update on cannabis. In the near future, we will introduce legislation on cannabis and we are trying to ensure that the reclassification takes place as quickly as possible. We hope that legislation—a statutory instrument—will be introduced in due course and in the not too distant future. We are considering the status of head shops and, if necessary, will introduce legislation on that. I absolutely agree with the hon. Gentleman's points. I am told that, legally, action is difficult, but we are considering the matter to try to find a way forward. We have funded police guidance and have considered the policing of head shops. Work is ongoing in that respect. I think I have dealt with most of the points raised by the hon. Gentleman, apart from those relating to the lack of information. Sometimes there has been an issue concerning a lack of information and how the information about the help available gets to people. We need to ensure that we tackle that. In some areas that is not a problem, but in others it is. We are trying to ensure that information is made available to people across the country and where it is needed, so that they can access the necessary help and treatment. The involvement of parents is clearly crucial to dealing with drugs. I would like to dispel one myth—again, my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, North taught me this. There is an issue with parents who simply do not care and we need to take action on that, but there is also an issue with parents who care very much, but who sometimes themselves struggle to know what they should be doing with their children. We need to ensure that we recognise their needs and help those parents too. On the national picture, the principles adopted in Nottingham that have been outlined by my hon. Friend in the excellent debate he has initiated are very much the principles that we want to adopt nationally. Let me put the matter in context: overall drug use by people in England and Wales, including by young people, has fallen to its lowest level since the British crime survey began measurement of self-reported drug misuse. The number of people in contact with drug treatment has increased by 130 per cent. and since the start of the drug intervention programme, acquisitive crime has fallen by 22 per cent. There are, no doubt, issues that we have to discuss, but changes and improvements are being made.