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Posted: Dec 6, 2021 / 10:17 AM CST
Updated: Dec 6, 2021 / 12:49 PM CST
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson (right) observes Monday the 6th (Christopher Furlong / Pool via AP)
LONDON (AP) – British parliamentary authorities are calling the police after a newspaper reported that traces of cocaine were found in numerous places in parliament.
House of Commons spokeswoman Lindsay Hoyle said he turned to police after the Sunday Times reported that illicit drugs were being used in parliament buildings.
The newspaper said tests on drug detection wipes found traces of cocaine in 11 locations only accessible to accredited parliamentary lawmakers, staff and journalists, including a washroom near Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s parliamentary office.
“The reports of substance abuse in Parliament that were brought to the Sunday Times are deeply worrying – and I will be making them a priority with the Metropolitan Police this week,” Hoyle said in a statement. “I expect full and effective enforcement of the law.”
Johnson’s spokesman, Max Blain, said Monday the reports were “worrying”.
The allegations came when the government announced a new strategy to combat drug abuse and drug-related crime. The plans published on Monday call for police crackdown on drug traffickers and traffickers for more resources to rehabilitate addicts.
The government also plans to reach out to recreational drug users to curb demand for narcotics, including by contacting customers found on drug traffickers’ seized phones “with a series of messages to discourage their drug use.”
Police Minister Kit Malthouse said reports of drug use in parliament were not surprising.
“There are obviously several thousand people working on the property and I would be surprised if it weren’t for some lifestyle drug users,” he told Sky News.
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https://www.kxan.com/news/international/uk-police-contacted-over-report-of-cocaine-use-in-parliament/
