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Police's tough approach to drugs
Within minutes of stepping out of south London's Clapham Junction station, local resident Marlene Price points out what she says are "druggies".
10-23-`07 | BBC News | by Jane Mower

"If the police were here they would pick them up and arrest them," she says.

She is referring to the "positive arrest" policy operating for anyone caught with cannabis on the York Road and Winstanley estates in Battersea.

Posters in local shops warn anyone caught with the drug in the "zero tolerance zone" will be arrested.

The policy was introduced in August in response to concerns raised by residents about drug dealing and anti-social behaviour.

Drug downgraded

Previously those caught with a small amount of cannabis were issued with a warning after initiatives prompted a more relaxed attitude to the drug.

In 2001 a "softly softly" approach, pioneered by controversial former Metropolitan Police chief Brian Paddick, was adopted in Brixton - then scrapped a year later.

Then in 2004 the government downgraded cannabis to a Class C drug which, according to Mrs Price, led to confusion about the law.

"After Brian Paddick's 'softly softly' approach and the government's downgrading people think it's ok to have cannabis," said Mrs Price.

"Police were issuing cautions to give people the benefit of the doubt."

As chairwoman of the Safer Neighbourhood panel, Mrs Price has been instrumental in ensuring fighting drugs is a top priority for the police.

"Nobody wants to be living near or next door to someone who is participating in criminal activity. It lowers the tone of the area."

Ch Supt Stewart Low said most of the anti-social behaviour was being committed by youths who came into the area to buy drugs.

"The aim is to deter youngsters from engaging in drug abuse and to prevent crime, including drug dealing, from being committed in the area," he said.

Railway station

Mrs Price, 61, who has lived on the York Road estate for the past 25 years, said before the policy came in people were "openly and frequently" smoking cannabis.

"Dealers had moved in to the area, taking over the homes of vulnerable people to run their business from," she said.

To compound the problem the estate sits on the doorstep of Britain's busiest railway station, Clapham Junction, and police have evidence drug users visit the area by rail.

As the policy approaches its final week officers are preparing to evaluate the impact of the scheme and assess whether it should continue.

In the four months leading up to the trial, 37 warnings were issued to people in the zero-tolerance zone.

Although police would not provide figures for the number of arrests since 6 August, Mrs Price claimed there had been a reduction in the number of people openly smoking cannabis.

She said failing to continue the policy would be a mistake and the residents' panel would be pushing for an extension.

"You can't just do something for three months, you have to have an exit strategy otherwise at the end of it they will just come back.

"Also Christmas is just around the corner which is a time when people tend to need to have money and some people use drugs as a form of enjoyment.

"This is the starting point, cannabis needs tackling as it is the root of the problem."

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