Police blog: Taking on Oswestry's GHB problem

Blog: There have been many articles and comments made in recent times concerning the issue of GHB misuse in the Oswestry area, writes Detective Inspector Gavin Kinrade of Shropshire CID.

GHB misuse is not new to the area and its origins can be traced back over a decade, before the drug was even illegal.

For reasons we are yet to fully understand, Oswestry seems to be something of a 'hot spot' in the country for use of the drug, something we are very aware of and are working hard to tackle.

The number of comments I have seen on news websites shows just how much the issue is concerning the community, from those both directly affected and not directly affected by GHB.

Many are sympathetic towards those who get snared by this highly addictive substance and other drugs, while others clearly have no time for anyone who chooses to 'dance with the devil'.

There are those who think we should all mind our own business and let users get on with it, believing they are not hurting anyone else.

Then there are others who blame the local police for the problem, believing we do nothing to deal with those selling the stuff.

I read one comment recently where it was suggested that all would be solved if the Old Bill got out of their nice warm cars.

If only it was that simple, the world would be a lovely place.

But we have yet to create a world like that portrayed by Tom Cruise in Minority Report, where we are ahead of the game and can stop bad things happening by looking into the future.

The reality is that people do, for reasons many of us fail to understand, take GHB.

Some are lucky and lose interest very quickly; others are not so lucky and find themselves sucked into a world that many of us can't even comprehend.

Many years ago, Oswestry was renowned for having a significant heroin problem and this current problem is no different to that. I recall many occasions when stationed in the area as a detective constable, dealing with heroin addicts.

A significant number of them were genuinely nice kids who had made a wrong decision, for which they and their families paid a heavy price.

Many of them would sit in interview or in the custody block and plead to be remanded in custody so they could break the cycle and be forcibly removed from the temptation to pop back to the dealer for another bag of smack.

West Mercia Police and other agencies worked hard during those times to break the cycle for those desperate to get clean and to remove from society those who chose to carry on and commit crime regardless, especially those who chose to deal 'death and misery' for their own greed.

GHB is no different.

We have all been working hard to minimise the damage to individuals and the community.

Much of what is done goes unseen and unheard. We don't often shout from the rooftops about what we have done and neither do our partner agencies.

When was the last time you read a news article about how a drugs worker managed to get an addict off drugs? Not often but the truth is they do and they are working hard, day in day out to help others.

How often do you hear of the paramedics who put themselves in the firing line every day dealing with people wanting to fight the world because they are off their heads on GHB? Not often, but again they are doing it day in day out. All they want to do is make sure that person, who often wants to punch their lights out, is safe and well and gets help.

Likewise, the Old Bill have been getting out of those nice warm cars to support the ambulance crews the best way we can.

"Kicking in a few doors and teaching people some manners", is what DCI Gene Hunt would say in Ashes to Ashes.

In recent months, we have recovered thousands of pounds worth of different drugs destined for the streets of Oswestry.

On top of this, over the last twelve months we have arrested over 30 people for possession of GHB. Not a bad figure when you realise this problem is just one of many others we have to deal with, day in day out.

Yesterday's warrants in Oswestry, which resulted in 12 arrests and the seizure of a large amount of suspected drugs and associated paraphernalia, is just another phase of the work we and our partners are doing to resolve the issue.

It is not an easy job.

We will continue to do everything we can to reduce the availability of all drugs in our areas but we are not naïve enough to think we can stop it all.

We can't solve all the problems on our own and need you, the public, to get behind us, stand up and be counted and provide the community intelligence and assistance we need to keep the dealers on the ropes.

But as they might say on Crimewatch, please don't have nightmares. While we do have problems, Shropshire truly is a safe place to live with low levels of crime compared to many other areas of the country.

So I end with a plea to you, the people of Oswestry and indeed, all of Shropshire.

Help us get those people dealing drugs in our society by reporting anything and anyone you think is acting suspiciously to police on 0300 333 3000.

Crimestoppers is totally anonymous and can be contacted on 0800 555 111, so if you are frightened of reprisals, nobody would ever know it was you.

I can promise that, although you might not see the results straight away, we will take action.

Detective Inspector Gavin Kinrade, Shropshire CID