New London police commissioner blames middle-class cocaine users for violence in Colombia and on British housing estates
[[Image:LocationUnitedKingdom.png|250px|right|World locator map with UnitedKingdom highlighted in green.]]
{{byline|date=February 6, 2005|location=[[w:London|LONDON]],[[w:United Kingdom|United Kingdom]]}}
The new [[wikipedia:London|London]] police commissioner [[wikipedia:Ian Blair|Sir Ian Blair]] has warned middle class dinner party users of cocaine that he is out to get them. In contrast, he is relaxed about [[w:cannabis|cannabis]] smokers, saying he does not wish to waste police time pursuing them. He has been quoted as saying: "People seem to think the price of a wrap of [[w:cocaine|cocaine]] is 50 quid [UK pounds], but the cost is misery on estates here and a trail of blood back to [[w:Colombia|Colombia]]. Someone has died to bring it [cocaine] to a dinner party. People who wouldn’t dream of having a non-organic vegetable don’t seem to notice the blood on their fingers."

[[Image:LocationColombia.png|250px|right|World locator map with Colombia highlighted in green.]]

Blair is clearly trying to prick the conscience of the 624,000 estimated cocaine users in the UK, hoping to persuade them to boycott this Class A drug. Others, including Colombian [[wikipedia:Nobel Prize|Nobel Prize]] winner and author [[wikipedia:Gabriel García Márquez|Gabriel García Márquez]], have stated that the misery both in Colombia and on poor housing estates in the UK is caused not by drugs themselves but by the banning of them. Marquez has specifically said that he cannot see the end of the civil war in Colombia as long as the illegal drug trade exists, and he cannot see the end of the illegal drug trade unless drugs are legalized. The trade in cannabis also generates violence both at home (in the UK) and abroad, in spite of Sir Ian's softly, softly approach to this recently reclassified Class C drug. 

==References==

*{{source|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1472394,00.html |title=Secret policemen to sniff out dinner party cocaine takers |author=David Leppard |pub=The Sunday Times |date=February 6, 2005}}
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1404499,00.html The Guardian article]. [[wikipedia:The Guardian|The Guardian]].
*[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1406928,00.html The Observer UK article] ''[[wikipedia:The Observer|The Observer]]''.
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2002026.stm Old BBC article on legalising drugs to reduce drug misery in UK] ''[[wikipedia:BBC|BBC]]''. 
*[http://www.periodicosiglo21.com/archivo/e106/miscelaneas/ Gabriel García Márquez calls in Spanish for drug legalisation in Colombia to create peace]
*[http://six.swix.ch/farcep/Documentos/legalizar.html Article in Spanish arguing for drug legalisation in Colombia]
*[http://www.drugscope.org.uk/news_item.asp?a=1&intID=269 Article about violence in the cannabis trade]

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[[Category:Crime and law]]
[[Category:Europe]]
[[Category:United  Kingdom]]
[[Category:London]]
[[Category:Cannabis]]
[[Category:Cocaine]]

[[es:El nuevo jefe de policía en Londres culpa a los usuarios de cocaína de clase media por la miseria en Colombia y en los barrios ingleses]]
World locator map with UnitedKingdom highlighted in green.

The new London police commissioner Sir Ian Blair has warned middle class dinner party users of cocaine that he is out to get them. In contrast, he is relaxed about cannabis smokers, saying he does not wish to waste police time pursuing them. He has been quoted as saying: "People seem to think the price of a wrap of cocaine is 50 quid UK pounds, but the cost is misery on estates here and a trail of blood back to Colombia. Someone has died to bring it cocaine to a dinner party. People who wouldn’t dream of having a non-organic vegetable don’t seem to notice the blood on their fingers."

World locator map with Colombia highlighted in green.

Blair is clearly trying to prick the conscience of the 624,000 estimated cocaine users in the UK, hoping to persuade them to boycott this Class A drug. Others, including Colombian Nobel Prize winner and author Gabriel García Márquez, have stated that the misery both in Colombia and on poor housing estates in the UK is caused not by drugs themselves but by the banning of them. Marquez has specifically said that he cannot see the end of the civil war in Colombia as long as the illegal drug trade exists, and he cannot see the end of the illegal drug trade unless drugs are legalized. The trade in cannabis also generates violence both at home (in the UK) and abroad, in spite of Sir Ian's softly, softly approach to this recently reclassified Class C drug.
Crime and law Europe United  Kingdom London Cannabis Cocaine