Cocaine crackdown targets middle class
Home Secretary
Priti Patel is urging police to "make an example" out of middle-class cocaine users in her latest crackdown on recreational drug use.
Reports indicate that Patel has asked senior police officials to name and shame "high profile" cocaine users in a move to rebuke the idea that certain groups can use Class A
drugs without ramifications.
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“One of the issues is that they don’t think they will ever get punished, that there’s no realistic prospect of the police pursuing them,”
a Home Office source told The Times.
“This is a drive to make sure that people are being punished and others realise it. There will be high-profile arrests. We want to make examples of people who are held in high esteem but are fuelling ongoing crime and murders linked to the drug trade.”
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Similarly, the police have also been asked to crack down on cocaine use at
University campuses when the new academic year starts in September. Officials are considering raiding freshers week in search of narcotics.
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A police source confirmed the news, saying: “We have been told to actively look for high-value individuals to arrest those who see drugs as a part of their lifestyle and don’t believe that there will be any ramifications.”
The energy of this crackdown seems very much like, "the war on drugs can't be racist, we arrested this rich white guy." Only time will tell whether this move will be actioned or not, or if this is merely another empty statement from the Home Office.
But at least Patel won't have to travel far with her drug testing kit, as a 2019 report from
VICE indicates her targets could be in the same building she is.
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