Dinner party drug users ‘causing violence and exploitation’, warns Sajid Javid

Middle-class drug users are fuelling a trade that involves violence and death, Sajid Javid has said.

The Home Secretary said “really well-paid” people taking drugs at the end of a dinner party should think about the “violence and exploitation” involved.

His comments echo a warning from Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick earlier this month that middle-class users form a “considerable” part of the market for cocaine.

Mr Javid told The House magazine: “There are people that sadly will be well-off and in really well-paid jobs and they might finish their dinner party and call up someone they know, some nice guy, who turns up at their door and hands them drugs.

“But they don’t see any of the whole supply chain that was utilised to bring them that drug.

“There’s modern slavery involved, young children in county lines gangs being exploited, there’s violence and possibly death.

“All this is what happens to bring the drugs to their door.

“Some people think they’re not responsible for any of that.

“Anyone who is taking these kinds of drugs needs to think about the impact they have on others and how they’re helping to cause this violence and exploitation, particularly of young people.”

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick (Gareth Fuller/PA)
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Mr Javid announced a crackdown on middle-class drug users in his speech to the Tory party conference in October.

A review was promised to look into who is buying illicit substances as well as who is selling them, covering all types of user and all illegal drugs.

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