23/08/05 - Drug Driving On The Increase

DRUG DRIVING SOARS

A survey by the road safety campaign organisation, Brake, has found that one in seven young drivers has driven whilst under the influence of drugs.

Labour have promised time and again to deal with the scourge of drugs in our society. They have launched crackdowns, announced gimmicks and thought up initiatives, yet drug use continues to rise and thousands of young lives are ruined.

It is bad enough that young people are exposed to drugs, but the fact that one in seven young drivers has driven under the influence of drugs is very worrying, compounded by a 12 per cent increase in deaths amongst 16-19 year-old drivers last year. Labour have failed to fight the war on drug driving.

Drug Driving Is Out Of Control Under Labour

1. • The survey by Brake, which asked 1,150 young people about their driving habits, found that 14 per cent of drivers aged 17-25 had put their lives at risk after taking illegal drugs.
2. • A study carried out on behalf of the Government shows driving on illegal drugs has increased massively over past decades and is now endemic in our society – 18 per cent of drivers who died behind the wheel between 1996 and 2000 had illegal drugs in their system, compared to 3 per cent during the period 1985-1988 (TRL & DfT, The Incidence of drugs and alcohol in road traffic accident fatalities, TRL report 495, 31 July 2000).
3. • One in four car drivers who die behind the wheel is under 25, despite this age group accounting for just one in fifteen car licence-holders (Brake, Press Release, 19 August 2005).

Liberals Cannot Be Trusted On Drugs

Liberal Democrats are soft on drugs. Their official party policy includes ending the use of imprisonment for possession for own use of illegal drugs of any class. They would also re-classify ecstasy from Class A to Class B and keep cannabis as a Class C drug (Liberal Democrats, Federal Conference Report: Manchester, 8-10 March 2002, pp. 6-7). The Liberal Democrat leader in the European Parliament has said this month that all hard drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, should be legalised (The Sprout magazine, August 2005).

Cllr Justin Tomlinson, North Swindon Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, "Drug driving is out of control under this 'all talk, no action' failing Labour Government.  We deserve better protection, and any measures to further soften the legal position on drugs will further fuel this growing problem.  The Liberal plans to legalise hard drugs are a disgrace, no wonder they are such a political joke in North Swindon."