Cocaine use at middle-class parties is helping to fuel drug-related gang violence on the streets of London, Sadiq Khan has warned.
Londons mayor said recreational drug use was not a victimless crime and he had seen evidence from authorities of a clear link between cocaine consumption and rising violence in the capital. Khan called for action to be taken against people who buy the drug at middle-class parties, alongside a crackdown on gang members.
The mayor, answering questions on his LBC radio phone-in show, said: There is a definite link, which has been shown to me by the police, of drugs and criminal gangs and knife crime and crime going up. We have got to make sure we take action among those young people who are involved in criminal gangs as well as those who are buying them at middle-class parties. There are some Londoners who think it is a victimless crime, taking cocaine at middle-class parties. We need to make sure Londoners realise there is no such thing as a victimless crime.
He added: Some of the young people being knifed on our streets in London, some of the young people losing their lives is because they are involved in criminal gangs who are lower down the food chain in relation to drugs.
Khan, who campaigned for a remain vote in the EU referendum, said Brexit could make tackling the illegal drug trade trade more difficult. The drugs come from overseas and the idea that we will be more effective at fighting crime by leaving the EU by not having the security arrangements with the EU is ridiculous, he said.
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