There will be no solution to knife crime until there is a long hard look at drugs policy. The illegality of drugs, and the lucrative industry around it, is fueling drug gangs and the inevitable violence that follows. Calls for more police and increased use of stop and search are failed responses. They create a false sense of security, affect the innocent and create even more fear and distrust. Solutions rest with eliminating the source of the gangs money - the illegal drugs trade - and resourcing genuine grass roots community initiatives, not more resources and powers to the police.
The illegal drugs trade will not be eradicated until addiction gets eradicated, and addiction won't get eradicated until trauma gets addressed. The whole system is profiting from the illicit drugs trade and county lines i.e. it's creating jobs and pumping money from the poor to the rich (for eg: super prisons, G4S etc.)
Resources need to be substantially redirected from the "war against drugs" and the criminal justice system (police, prisons etc) towards a public health response to addition and mental health. This needs to be combined with a decriminalisation of drugs, particularly cannabis supply and use.
There will be no solution to knife crime until there is a long hard look at drugs policy. The illegality of drugs, and the lucrative industry around it, is fueling drug gangs and the inevitable violence that follows. Calls for more police and increased use of stop and search are failed responses. They create a false sense of security, affect the innocent and create even more fear and distrust. Solutions rest with eliminating the source of the gangs money - the illegal drugs trade - and resourcing genuine grass roots community initiatives, not more resources and powers to the police.
The illegal drugs trade will not be eradicated until addiction gets eradicated, and addiction won't get eradicated until trauma gets addressed. The whole system is profiting from the illicit drugs trade and county lines i.e. it's creating jobs and pumping money from the poor to the rich (for eg: super prisons, G4S etc.)
Resources need to be substantially redirected from the "war against drugs" and the criminal justice system (police, prisons etc) towards a public health response to addition and mental health. This needs to be combined with a decriminalisation of drugs, particularly cannabis supply and use.