The Government’s new drugs strategy does not suffer from a lack of ambition. It promises to crack down on middle-class users, wipe out county lines gangs, expand drug testing and spend millions more on treatment services. Ministers will also consult on sanctions for recreational users, including the confiscation of passports and driving licences.

Few would disagree that Britain has a drugs problem. The Government says that there are now more than 300,000 problem users, and that they are responsible for half of all thefts, robberies and burglaries. “Casual” users, meanwhile, have long been able to get away with supporting an illegal trade that brings violence, misery and exploitation in its wake, in the UK and abroad.

But this is just the latest in a long line of drugs initiatives over the years, most of them promising much the same thing. The government announces a “crackdown” on the criminals, or extra help for users, but the problem is never resolved. Will this time be any different? Ministers have recognised that this is a complex issue, spanning the criminal justice system, public health and the police, and that there is nothing wrong with spending more on treatment. However, the public’s overriding expectation is for the police to take the offences committed by drug users and dealers seriously.

There have been worrying indications in recent years that some forces have not done so. They have become too tolerant of what are wrongly deemed to be “minor” crimes, to the extent that they are not even reported. If this latest drug strategy is to be more successful than the last ones, therefore, it needs to rectify that.