§ 21. Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the efficacy of Government measures to combat the abuse of drugs.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe ministerial group on the misuse of drugs co-ordinates and monitors the Government's 539W strategy against drug misuse. When the group last met on 4 May it took note of, amongst other things, the generally encouraging findings of an independent evaluation of the 1987–88 prevention campaign. As chairman of the group, I have made a number of visits to see how different aspects of the strategy are implemented. Most recently I visited the Metropolitan police central and No. 2 area drugs squads and St. Mary's hospital, Paddington drug dependency unit. I was impressed by all the excellent work being done.
§ 51. Mr. ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement on his initiatives to tackle drugs misuse and abuse.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggI refer my hon. Friend to the replies I gave to questions from my hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire, West (Mr. McLoughlin) on 21 April 1988, at column517, and from the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond) on 3 May 1988, at column 428.