We want Stoke-on-Trent to be a safe place to live and I know that residents will join me in saying that crime has no home here. Unfortunately, monkey dust has become a scourge locally, ruining lives and blighting our communities.
The horrific drug is too cheaply and readily available. It is hallucinogenic and dangerous with reports of people jumping off buildings, starting fires and even dropping dead because of taking it. We have also seen those under the influence commit serious crimes of violence in our town centres and given the incredible hulk, superhuman reaction many users experience it has placed a huge burden on local services like the police. For these reasons, as residents will know I have been campaigning fiercely to have monkey dust reclassified to a Class A drug in efforts to get it off our streets and ensure callous dealers face the full force of the law.
Given the severe, often life limiting health implications for those who take monkey dust, with many permanently damaged as a result and the extreme violence which many of our communities have suffered, reclassification is essential. I would also recognise this is not merely about enforcement, we need effective medical treatment and the £5.3 million we have received from Government must be focused on developing services to treat those damaged by monkey dust. Alongside this, we must tackle how cheaply available this drug is and give law enforcement the tools to properly deal with situation we face.
Currently, monkey dust is a Class B drug which means you’d get a maximum sentence of 14 years and a fine if you make it or supply it. Given the extremely damaging impact of this drug on our communities and those who have become victim to the drug, it warrants a far higher classification. If it becomes a Class A drug, dealers would face up to life in prison, meaning that those supplying and producing monkey dust can receive the harshest of sentences. Driving up the cost and consequences for those drug gangs.
Late last year, I secured a Westminster Hall Debate in which the Minister for Crime, Policing, and Fire, Chris Philp MP, committed to start the process of a formal review of monkey dust and other so-called synthetic cathinones. This was welcome news and, since then, I have assisted the Government in their efforts to gather evidence on the harms of monkey dust. I am grateful for the work which local services here in Stoke-on-Trent have put in to providing the data needed to demonstrate why reclassification is necessary.
Home Office Ministers have made a personal commitment to me for the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to conduct a formal harms assessment on synthetic cathinones.
Recently, I appeared on Times Radio to promote the campaign and spoken with Jeremy Kyle on TalkTV last week to discuss the same. This week in parliament I will be filming with the Academy Award winning production company, Slick Films, as part of a documentary they are putting together to raise awareness of the impact that monkey dust is having on communities like Stoke-on-Trent.
I am also grateful for the BBC who have invited me to participate in their documentary outlining the impact monkey dust is having on people’s lives. I would like to thank The Sentinel for their ongoing support in highlighting my campaign in the paper.
There is a national urgency across communities to put a stop to monkey dust, and I am glad Stoke-on-Trent is leading the way because I do fear that we are merely the tip of the iceberg if we do not take action to properly tackle this horrific and dangerous drug, now. I will continue my campaign to have monkey dust reclassified and will work with both the Government and relevant organisations throughout.
Over the next few weeks, I will be speaking with local residents as part of my podcast to hear their stories on how drug abuse has affected their lives or the lives of loved ones.
Lastly, huge thanks to everyone who has already signed my petition: your support has been essential in helping highlight the importance of this issue to Government. You can still sign my petition here: https://www.jackbrereton.co.uk/campaigns/reclassify-monkey-dust-class-drug
