Clarke: Crackdown

The battle against drug addiction is being won, the home secretary has told the Commons.

Charles Clarke said new legislation, which includes a package of anti-drugs measures such as expanding police powers and cracking down on dealers, would up the ante in the bid to take drugs of the streets.

During a second reading debate he told MPs that the legislation would "prevent and inhibit" drug use which "threatens the civil liberties" of the wider public.

He said the government had "consulted widely" on the legislation - which has broad support from the Conservatives.

New police powers outlined in the Bill include the authority to test drug offenders on arrest rather than when charged and to require a person with a positive test to be assessed by a drugs worker.

Clarke laid to one side civil liberties fears to press the case for the tougher regime. "I don't think there is a right of anybody to abuse drugs," he said.

"If it is a choice between the civil rights of the drug abuser or the civil rights of those who are abused by the drug abuser I choose the civil rights of those who are abused."

He added that offenders should be put into rehabilitation "absolutely as rapidly as possible".

For the Conservatives ,David Davis said he welcomed the legislation but warned that it was "only a small step in the right direction" when set against the scale of drug abuse in Britain.

Tory MP John Bercow said a great number of schools operated a zero tolerance policy but warned that further discussions were required on guidance on drug dealing within schools.

Clarke said he would work with the education secretary to develop future thinking on action against drugs in school.