Johnson wanted to ’embarrass’ Tory Cabinet members over drug use, Cummings claims – The National

BORIS Johnson wanted to "embarrass"top Tories over their alleged drug use, Dominic Cummings has claimed.

The Prime Minister's former top aide claimed meetings he attended relating to drugs policy in Number 10 were like Brass Eye, Channel 4'ssatirical current affairs show which aired in1997.

Cummings went on to say that the Home Office was more concerned with "crackdowns"and "marketing campaigns"in relation to drugs policy.

The former Vote Leave chief made the comments above an article he shared regarding economics, the war on drugs and Afghanistan.

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The article claims that the war on opium production failed and instead increased the strength of the Taliban.

It was based on an opinion piece by Jeffrey Clemens, an economist at the University of California in San Diego.

Cummings wrote: "Econ 101, opium, Taliban.

"(Few mtngs I ever had in No10 were more Brass Eye than listening to Home Office plans for 'crackdowns' and 'marketing campaigns' + BJ's desire to embarrass his Cabinet over their own drug use)"

It comes almost a month after Boris Johnson rejected pleasto allow safe drug consumption rooms in Scotland.

The Scottish Government, health experts and campaigners said that it would be a lifesaving facility, but Johnson instead vowed to take a hardline approach to criminal gangs.

Meanwhile, the article referenced by Cummings said that opium production did not decline in Afghanistan but underwent an "important shift"moving from areas underneath the Afghan government's control to provinces where they struggled to exert control.

Therefore, instead of poppy production being widespread across Afghanistan it became concentrated in areas where the government struggled to assert its authority.

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The article reads: "By the late 2000s, however, it had consolidated in areas dominated by the Taliban in the countrys southwest provinces, in particular in Helmand province, which regularly accounts for half of the land cultivated with opium poppies."

Former Tory party leader William Hague recently called on the UK to follow Portugal's lead and decriminalise drugs, tackling it as a health issue instead of a criminal one.

In 2020, drugs deaths in Scotland rose by 5% to a record 1339, the seventh year in a row the number of deaths has increased.

We previously told how Dominic Cummings spent three hours debating Brexit and Scottish independence with staff at an Ullapool hotel during a visit to the area in August.

Number 10 has been contacted for comment.

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Johnson wanted to 'embarrass' Tory Cabinet members over drug use, Cummings claims - The National