Drug use in West Midlands increases – but which drugs are people taking?
Party drugs such as ecstasy pills and LSD are on the comeback in the West Midlands – at a time drug offences recorded by the region’s police more than halved, a study has found.
Usage of Class A drugs in the West Midlands has gone up from 1.1 per cent of adults in 2012/13 to 2.6 per cent in 2017/18, according to new Home Office figures.
It shows a 10-year high in people taking ecstasy and hallucinogenic substances. Usage of cocaine has also risen.
Yet drug offences recorded by West Midlands Police have slumped, from 8,315 in 2012/13 to 4,130 in 2017/18.
Staffordshire Police recorded 3,481 incidents in 2012/13 and 1,880 in 2017/18.
Targeting gangs
West Midlands Police Superintendent Jane Bailey, who is the force’s lead over drugs and psychoactive substances, defended the drop in recorded drug offences.
She said the focus had turned from catching individual drug users to targeting the criminal gangs controlling the distribution of substances.
And she said progress had been made with partnering organisations to provide rehabilitation to get drug users off their habit.
She said: “We are not recording the same level of drugs offences as in 2012/2013 as many of those would have been for individual possession of controlled substances.
“The current figures reflect our intelligence-led approach to tackling of the wider distribution of drugs networks that present the biggest threat and harm to our communities.
“We are working hard to pursue and disrupt those responsible and organised criminals who treat drug dealing as a business enterprise.”
Drug testing
The force recently ran a multi-agency drug-safety testing service for the first time at MADE Festival in Birmingham last month as part of a new harm reduction strategy to prevent drug related deaths.
This saw a number of substances handed over and tested. Advice was then given to the users in a bid to ensure their safety and offer them an opportunity to stop taking drugs.
Supt Bailey said the scheme was being reviewed and could be rolled out at other events throughout the West Midlands.
She said: “We know drugs are readily available. People, if they want, know where to find them and find a route go get them.
“Our job is to dismantle, disrupt and pursue the gangs while helping those who become users to get help for their addiction.”
Sean Keasey runs one of Wolverhampton’s busiest nightclubs, Gorgeous, which is situated in School Street.
He said security staff often found drugs on young people attempting to enter the club.
He said: “It is becoming a problem because there are fewer police who each have less time to proactively investigate issues such as drugs in the city.
“We don’t have a problem because we have a strict policy over drugs.
“But you can’t stop people doing it in the street, in estates or run-down houses.
“It is an issue which isn’t going away.”
