Knowsley Councils Drug and Alcohol Action team were recently in the news after the results of a operation against drugs was announced in the media. Operation Arizona was another 'partnership' in the Governments never ending series of schemes to try and tackle the drug problems in our communities.

The operation covered all of Knowsley, no specific figures are given for Kirkby but a number of small time dealers from Kirkby were caught up in the series of dawn raids. More than 50 people were arrested and over £100,000 worth of drugs and property were seized. The police never really mention exactly how much drugs have been seized and it's likely the cost of stolen goods were added to the equation to give the operation more credibility. This operation was called a 'major operation that took dealers off the streets of Knowsley' and the scheme was highlighted as a 'success' to yet another Government conference in London (all expenses paid) called 'The Effective Partnership to tackle Street crime Conference'. Knowsley Council Chief executive Steve Gallagher was there to take the applause along with Chief Superintendent Simon Byrne and Cathy Young, the manager of the Drug and Alcohol Team in Knowsley.

So did it stop drugs in Kirkby?

Kirkby Times has tackled the issue of drugs before. It's a major problem here and all of us know people who have been or are affected by drugs. Whilst the Police may well have made a good few arrests of heroin and crack dealers, to say that Operation Arizona was a 'Major Drugs Operation' is being over enthusiastic at best. The measure of the Police's success in tackling drugs can be seen by the availability of drugs after operations. Did this operation actually stop drugs in Kirkby? The answer is a definite no.

The Government doesn't give a damn if Kirkby is one big crackhouse.

The heroin addicts and crack-heads have never had much trouble getting hold of their fixes. At best, the addicts would be forced up the road to Huyton or Walton for the night until Kirkby was open for business again. I cannot remember a period in the past 20 years where the heroin addicts have had too much difficulty in buying purchasing heroin. Knowsley Drug Agencies, if they are to be effective, must be run by local people and recovered addicts trained as Counselors. The Police here, at best, contain the problem and try to make sure none of the shootings and violence spread to the nicer parts of Merseyside. The Government doesn't give a damn if Kirkby is one big crack house. Knowsley Council and especially some of the Councillors here have not got a clue what's happening. Kirkby's political players have failed to address the problem of drugs in the community completely.

How much money is spent on drugs in Knowsley?

No-one has so far put forward any report of real depth into the drug problems here. Statistics are hard to find but there is a way of working out just how much money is actually being made in drugs in Knowsley. The number of actual addicts in England in 2000/2001 was given by the home office as 118,500 persons who were undergoing treatment off their GP or a Drug Agency. This figure is only those who have sought treatment. In Kirkby, there's likely a few hundred addicts, call it 200 addicts spending £20 a day on heroin for instance. That adds up to well over £500,000 per year, if there are only 200 addicts here! Only spending £20 per day. BUT, there are maybe 1000 people who spend at least £20 a week on cocaine. Conservative figure. Each week, there's over £20,000 spent on drugs in Kirkby alone. These are very very conservative estimates on all counts. And if we take into account crack cocaine sales, cannabis, 'e' and speed and other drugs such as lsd, ketamine and others, it's very likely up to One Hundred Thousand Pounds is spent in Knowsley each week on drugs by users at bare minimum. This would be an annual figure of some Ten Million Pounds spent in Knowsley every Year. This figure, as already stated is a conservative estimate and reflects personal purchases only in Knowsley only.

Rattle your prozac bottles if your anti drugs!

So far the debate on drugs in Kirkby has been narrowed down to all the major players agreeing that it's a bad thing and should be stopped. 'Drugs are bad' the experts tell us, and of course many are. But if were going to portray drugs as 'bad' then lets ask if the people telling us this are speaking from experience or if there mimicking what those at the top say. Many people in Kirkby have taken drugs. If everyone in Kirkby who had taken drugs was arrested, we'd have thousands in the cells, or a few jails, as they'd need a lot of space. The hypocrisy in Kirkby and the UK as a whole,regarding drugs is blatant. People in politics and positions of alleged responsibility, take an anti drug line whilst going home to snort a few lines of coke or smoke a joint. None of these people have the guts to speak for legalization and even those who are against drugs think nothing of lighting up a cigarette or downing a few Whiskeys or swallowing prozac. Throwing addicts in jail is a joke. Some may well deserve a bit of porridge, but most have just robbed to feed an addiction.

Crack and Smack

Heroin and Crack cocaine are the two main baddies (ie drugs which have a massive negative impact on the area) right now in Kirkby, although ordinary cocaine is by far the biggest market. In the 80's, the main cash drug in Kirkby was cannabis and hashish, nowadays its cocaine and heroin. Some people use cocaine recreationally of a weekend and see themselves as having no problem.

Below, the War against drugs in action. This was a young girl in russia, but it could easily be a girl from Kirkby. Smack is for losers.

Cannabis on Merseyside contains glues and tranquilisers.

Most of the cannabis in Kirkby and Merseyside as a whole is, according to those in the know, a commercial mix of chemicals including glues, tranquilisers and all manner of dangerous things. Note that there has been no mention from Knowsley Drug Workers on this problem. There are hundreds of teenagers, many under 16 who smoke this artificial cannabis. The long term health consequences of smoking chemical adulterants in this 'soap bar hash' has not even been looked at. Illegal businesses do not have to care for such niceties as 'quality control', and Merseyside itself has gained a reputation for being behind a lot of the 'soap bar' business. The 'soapbar hash', according to various sources, is made in Spain were pure Moroccan Hash is broken up to be mixed with the contaminants. More bulk=more money. So far only one researcher has actually tested what is commonly known as 'soap bar'.(the street name given to commercial Moroccan hashish) The ingredients in this 'soap bar' which is being smoked by people includes Beeswax, turpentine, milk powder, ketamine, boot polish, henna, pine resin, aspirin, animal turds, ground coffee, barbiturates, glues and dyes plus carcinogenic solvents such as Toluene and Benzene. The full report is linked to below.

What's in Soap bar hash then?

Merseyside Gangs monitored by MI5.

Kirkby has always lived in the shade of the bigger Gangster Scene in Liverpool.Liverpool has risen to become one of the major suppliers of Heroin across the UK. The National criminal Intelligence Service issued the following statement in 2002…… "while London-based Turkish gangs have previously overseen 70 per cent of Britain's heroin importation, their power was being challenged by emerging groups of Pakistanis, West Africans, ethnic Albanians and Merseyside." The NCIS are working with M15 ,customs and Police.

Top Cops admitted Corruption was widespread in the Force.

Whilst the Police may claim corruption in their own ranks is not too deep rooted a problem, it is worth noting that the NCIS themselves spoke of corruption being at 3rd World levels not so long back. It is interesting to look at the minutes of a highly confidential meeting organised by the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS). The topic of the meeting, held on June 23, 1998 was "Combatting Corruption in the Police Service".

The 10 participants, all past or present members of the Association of Chief Police Officers, http://www.acpo.police.uk/ were among the most senior chief police officers and policy-makers in the country. They included the director general of NCIS, the deputy chief constables of Merseyside and West Midlands police, the director general of the National Crime Squad and two representatives from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary.

They all agreed that "corrupt officers existed throughout the UK" - not just in the Met, nor even just in the major Cities. Roger Gaspar, NCIS's director of intelligence and probably best placed to know, indicated that police corruption had become "pervasive" and may have reached "the situation which occurs in some Third World countries".

The "common activities" of corrupt officers included theft of property and drugs during searches; planting of drugs or stolen property on individuals; supplying details of operations to criminals; and aborting investigations or destroying evidence.

"In severe cases," NCIS's director of intelligence added, "this would include the committing of serious crimes, including armed robbery and drug dealing, or the licensing and organising of such crimes."

Gangs are the new 'community'

Kirkby Times has long pointed out that the drug trade has destroyed the Communities in Liverpool. It has weakened Liverpool's communities to the point where there is little sense of solidarity anymore, no real feeling of belonging to a community as such. Many young lads seek that solidarity and belonging by joining a gang, the drug gangs have in many ways become a 'community' for those involved. Loyalty in these gangs is genuine, as many of the lads involved are friends and relatives whose close knit ties mean that loyalty is guaranteed. Many will have been friends since kids. The NCIS would find it extremely difficult if not impossible to ever infiltrate the organised gangs. The average gang member on Merseyside has too many ties to the area to contemplate turning states evidence on the gang. To give evidence against any of the gangs would mean a life long exile from Merseyside. No matter were you went you would be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life.

The Elmore Davies factor

Back in 1998 just before Norman Bettison was made Chief Constable here, despite his Hillsborough connections, there was a major blow to Merseyside Police's credibility when Elmore Davies, a detective chief inspector, was exposed as being on the payroll of Curtis Warren currently serving time in Holland. Elmore Davies handed over sensitive information including names and addresses of witnesses in upcoming trials, plus naming where Police officers kids went to school. Elmore Davies sold out his fellow officers for the sum of £10,000. A joint operation by Customs and the regional crime squad obtained the itemised phone records of a number of notorious drug dealers. Those records showed that they were ringing numbers inside Merseyside police drugs and fraud squads. The Chief Constable prior to Norman Bettison was, of course, Sir James Sharples. Sir James quietly disbanded Merseyside's drug squad, its fraud squad and its serious crime squad. An unknown number of officers retired early on grounds of ill health, or were moved to less sensitive positions. There was no public statement of any kind.

Cops bought off by 'Holiday money'

Obtaining corrupt policemen did not; however, seem to be difficult for drug dealers according to the Daily Telegraph. "Finding a cop who'll help out is not a problem," said one drugs smuggler who works outside London. "Some policemen just want a share of the money you can earn through drugs. They can collect more than their month's salary for a few minutes work for one of us." The person, interviewed by the Daily Telegraph, claimed to have policemen who would sabotage operations against him and his friends for as little as £3,000 - "holiday money", as he calls it. He also said that there was a contact in the Crown Prosecution Service who had been used because he could ensure that vital pieces of evidence were "lost".

Problem still exists.

It would be wrong to tarnish all Police with the same brush because of the actions of a few, even a considerable number of officers who turned bad. But since 1998 we have had little indication that the Police as a whole have fully addressed the issue of corruption. Kirkby Times will soon be hosting an article by an ex serving Merseyside Police Officer which looks at the problem of corruption and the solutions. Any other Police serving or otherwise are welcome to give there views, no official spin-doctored press releases please, tell it how it is.

A blank cheque to the Police won't make much difference to the drug problem.

This website, despite criticism, has called for the legalization of drugs and for addicts to be given pure drugs from a doctor or the local chemist, rather than the local dealer. We can of course carry on the 'War' against drugs. We can launch another Operation Arizona which will take out a few thousand pounds worth of drugs and a few dozen low level dealers. The Police likely spent months in preparing the raids and targeting dealers. But as this article has stated it did not stop the supply of heroin or crack. The Police are being seriously overstretched by the massive amount of hours which they put into drug operations. The cost of Policing the drug trade has naturally risen but there comes a point when even a blank cheque could do little more than make the slightest dent in the overall problem. No matter how much the Police do here in Kirkby, even if 500 officers stand shoulder to shoulder, they will not prevent the estimated 3 years supply of opium stored in Afghanistan from being turned into heroin and shipped by sophisticated Armies and Mafias who have more resources than the Entire British and American Police Forces combined. That heroin will make its way to Kirkby and a thousand other towns and estates all up and down the UK.

War on Drugs has failed.

We will never stop drugs being sold in Kirkby. We can legalise the trade to ensure that, like alcohol, we use the taxes gained to both educate people as to the dangers, and to plough money back into the community. Obviously there are many issues which need ironed out but many are beginning to see legalization of some sort as the only real solution. If every heroin addict in Kirkby were given a pure supply of heroin, they would not need to rob or prostitute themselves. Nor would they need to sell heroin to supply their own needs. We also need to tackle the root of drug addiction which is down to social deprivation and poverty.

Kirkby Times welcomes comments from anyone who has suggestions as to how to tackle the problem.

We suggest you look at the Urban 75 guide to drugs, which is to be found here.

We especially welcome articles from recovered addicts who may well put kids off going down the road they've been down. Lets introduce a level of honesty into the debate. Kirkby Times is never going to glamorize drugs, because for most working class people, being addicted to drugs is a nightmare. There are no 'good' or 'bad' drugs. Even the Government concede this point in a Department of Health booklet called 'Drugs, a Parents Guide'. Drugs are an intrinsic part of society, they have been used for thousands of years by hundreds of different cultures for religious, social and recreational purposes. Let's just be sure we know exactly what we are trying to achieve.

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