The so-called ‘war on drugs’ at Westminster is a massive distraction

There are many problems with people’s behaviour in parliament – sexual harassment, bullying, alcohol problems, often a mix of the three – but rampant drug-taking is almost certainly not one of them, writes Marie Le Conte

‘Boris Johnson announced he was considering taking away the passports and driving licences of people found to be drug users’ (PA)

The terrible truth about drugs is that doing them is, and will always be, more fun than talking about them. This applies both to sesh fiends found on university campuses everywhere and (sadly) the majority of politicians.

The two groups usually have little in common, yet – when it comes to drugs – neither can resist boring everyone to death whenever they have run out of other things to say, ie quite often.

This week is allegedly “crime week” – which is odd, as the last “crime week” was in July, but perhaps it is like the Queen’s birthday, and we get to enjoy it twice a year – and now all Westminster wants to talk about is cocaine.

In an interview with The Sun on Sunday, Boris Johnson announced that he was considering taking away the passports and driving licences of people found to be drug users. “We need to look at new ways of penalising [middle-class drug users]”, he told the paper, “things that will actually interfere with their lives.”

While the policy is meant to target the poshos who polish off the occasional line over a bottle of picpoul, it is hard not to see it pushing already vulnerable people further into addiction.

If someone is already at risk of losing their job because of their drug consumption, what would happen if they could no longer drive to their workplace? Many people, including immigrants, only have a passport as their main form of ID; what would happen if they could no longer apply for jobs or flats?

Elsewhere, the Daily Mail reported that the government could make the police text drug customers from their dealer’s phone if said supplier gets arrested. “Too many people think they are anonymous when they are buying drugs,” a Whitehall source told the paper.

“The idea is to shock them into thinking again. When their phone goes from what they think is their dealer, they’ll instead find a message from the drugs squad.”

Setting aside the fact that getting essentially prank texted by the police would be inherently hilarious, this hardly feels like a game-changing idea. If anything, it would presumably make drug buying more efficient, as it would alert users to the fact that they must find a new contact sharpish.

More seriously, all of this does feel like a symptom of a government unsure of what it should be doing next. The war on drugs has been going on for countless years and, well, the drugs keep winning. Instead of inventing new ways to criminalise people who should be helped, why not address the underlying issues? What good is it to strengthen anti-drug policies when failing mental health services, unaffordable housing and precarious, low paid work remain rife?

Annoyingly, politicians aren’t the only ones currently stuck in this time loop of a moral panic. Over the weekend, The Sunday Times revealed that traces of cocaine had been found throughout the parliamentary estate. Since then, calls have been made to introduce sniffer dogs in the palace, and Twitter has been awash with people painting a world in which MPs spend more time with white lines than green benches.

This is also, I am afraid to say, a distraction. There are many problems with people’s behaviour in Westminster – sexual harassment, bullying, alcohol problems, often a mix of the three – but rampant drug-taking is almost certainly not one of them.

I can only speak anecdotally, of course, but though some people do clearly take them – as some people do take drugs in most areas of life – I am yet to meet anyone who would describe cocaine use as “rife” in political spheres.

To keep up to speed with all the latest opinions and comment, sign up for our free weekly Voices Dispatches newsletter by clicking here

The recent outrage feels like another bout of displacement activity; pundits and the public alike are cross with the government for messing up the pandemic, breaking the rules, or whatever else, and painting parliament as a drug haven feels like an easy way to try to bring them down.

It will not work, just like the government’s mishmash of controversial policies will almost certainly not make drug use go down. It is frustrating because drugs are currently ruining the lives of thousands of people up and down the country – no one denies that.

Still, it is a problem that will only be solved when it is taken at face value and not as a convenient point-scoring exercise.