HC Deb 26 January 1967 vol 739 cc1745-6
5. Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to set up a central register for drug addicts.

15. Mr. Nigel Fisher

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in order to control the increase in narcotic addiction, he will consider the compulsory registration of addicts with a view to their isolation and the prevention of transmission to others.

Mr. Roy Jenkins

The Home Office already maintains a record of known addicts. The compulsory notification of addicts would require legislation, and I hope to be in a position to make an announcement about this shortly.

Mrs. Short

May I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply, and may I remind him that this and many other recommendations of the Brain Report are eagerly awaited by the House and the country as a whole?

Mr. Jenkins

I am fully aware of the urgency of the problem.

Mr. Fisher

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that many responsible people feel that three or four times as many addicts exist in this country as are known and notified to his Department? As a high proportion of them become addicted through friends who are themselves already addicts, would not registration and subsequent isolation help to prevent the spread of what is becoming almost an epidemic?

Mr. Jenkins

I am not sure that I would like to be taken as accepting the exact proportions mentioned by the hon. Gentleman, but I am well aware that there must be more addicts than are known to my Department. It is for that reason that I am anxious to proceed with the implementation of the Brain recommendations as soon as practicable.

Mr. Hogg

Would it help the right hon. Gentleman in his negotiations for Parlia- mentary time for his legislation both on drugs and clubs to know that it would receive a sympathetic welcome from this side of the House?

Mr. Jenkins

I am grateful to the right hon. and learned Gentleman, and I shall certainly take that into account.