, Thames Valley (8.6 per cent) and West Midlands (9.6 per cent). This contrasts with more than 30 per cent in Wiltshire, Cheshire and the City of London. The moves could put police and public health chiefs on a collision course with the Government, which has proposed a tough new 'three-strikes-and-out' approach to recreational drug use. This would see habitual users banned from foreign travel, disqualified from driving or electronically drug tagged to stop their habit. Opposition to decriminalisation On Friday, the Prime Minister reiterated his opposition to decriminalisation after the SNP called for such a move for personal use of drugs . A source close to the Home Secretary Suella Braverman described it as 'irresponsible' and threatening 'untold damage' to neighbourhoods. Surrey Police stood by its approach. In a statement it said: 'We know that drug offences are often part of a wider picture, which is why it's important that we look at the circumstances which are causing someone to offend and address grass-root issues. 'An example of this includes diversionary tactics which can be used for first-time offences and are found to be more effective at reducing re-offending than prosecution. 'This could include a referral to a drug treatment programme or a youth restorative scheme, which take a holistic and individual approach aimed at preventing re-offending.' Police chiefs said they took a){kind=link}
Figures reveal wide variations between police forces, with Surrey charging just 14.3 per cent for carrying drugs other than cannabis
As few as one in seven offenders caught with class A drugs such as cocaine are being prosecuted for possession, Home Office figures show.
The data reveals that the proportion being charged for possession of drugs other than cannabis has fallen from more than half (51.9 per cent) eight years ago to fewer than four in 10 (39.2 per cent) last year.
This, however, masks wide variations between police forces, with Surrey charging just 14.3 per cent or only one in seven offences for possession of drugs other than cannabis.
It has the lowest charge rate followed by West Mercia (15.7 per cent), West Midlands (17.4 per cent) and Hampshire (23.3 per cent). This contrasts with 66 per cent for the Met Police and more than 50 per cent for Humberside, Wiltshire, Staffordshire, North Yorkshire and Norfolk.