The opinions expressed by John Blunt are not necessarily those of this newspaper.

LABOUR might have been red hot on crime and the causes of crime in opposition but, in government, it's turning out soft and lukewarm.

For now the latest tactic is not to jail the druggie scum who rob people to feed their habit and are responsible for half of all the country's crime.

Instead, addicts will be ordered to work in the community.

Well, that's going to do wonders for the crime figures, announcing in advance to every burglar, mugger and car radio thief that they'll not see the inside of prison if they can blame their behaviour on addiction.

All that is likely to happen is that crime goes up as, on paper, the number of addicts rockets.

"I can't help it - it's the drugs," will become the ever-ready excuse of every offender whether he is a druggie or not.

Talk about dishing out Get Out Of Jail Free cards to all and sundry.

But what's the reasoning behind this treatment-and-work-in-the-community sentence approach?

The government maintains that it works better than sending addicts to jail where drugs are readily available.

Yet, police superintendents tell us that it is sending more people to prison that is bringing down crime.

And, surely, if the government is as tough on crime as its says, it should, for the sake of its victims and for justice and deterrence, be automatically jailing all burglars.

At the same time it should be making sure that drugs are not readily available in our prisons.

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