New rules mean middle-class drug users could lose their UK passport

Middle-class drug users are being targeted as part of a 10-year-strategy, where they could see their passport and driving licence taken away as punishment.

The government intends to knuckle down on “lifestyle” users of class A drugs – proposals designed to target wealthy professionals who the government claim are driving the practices with their demand.

Heroin, methadone, cocaine, ecstasy, magic mushrooms and “crystal meth” are all considered class A drugs.

Police officers will also be able to go through drug dealers’ phones and contact their clients with warnings about drug use in order to convince them to change their behaviour.

Boris Johnson is promising a £300m investment to close down drugs gangs and dismantle 2,000 more “county lines” supplies with thousands more arrests. He is also pledging the largest-ever increase in investment in treatment and recovery for addicts.

The Home Office pointed to evidence that shows there are more than 300,000 heroin and cocaine addicts in England who, between them, are responsible for nearly half of crimes such as burglaries, robberies and theft from shops.

Drug poisoning deaths are also at a record high, having increased by almost 80% since 2012.

Boris Johnson told the Sun that the government will be assessing new measures in order to reduce demand and deter people from illegal drug use through “more meaningful consequences.”

He added: “We need to look at new ways of penalising them. Things that will actually interfere with their lives. So we will look at taking away their passports and driving licences. What I want to see is a world in which we have penalties for lifestyle drug users that will seriously interfere with their enjoyment of their own lifestyles.”

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