Bromsgrove mum who lost her two sons to heroin addiction heads to Conservative Party Conference to campaign for drug laws reform - The Bromsgrove Standard

Bromsgrove mum who lost her two sons to heroin addiction heads to Conservative Party Conference to campaign for drug laws reform

Bromsgrove Editorial 30th Sep, 2016 Updated: 17th Oct, 2016   0

A BROMSGROVE mum who lost two sons to heroin addiction will be calling for a change in the Government’s drugs policy at a fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

Rose and Jeremy Humphries from Finstall joined the campaign, Anyone’s Child: Families for Safer Drug Control – launched by the Transform Drug Policy Foundation – in 2015 after losing their second son, Jake, 37, to a heroin overdose.

Their other son Roland, 23, also died following a heroin overdose 11 years earlier.

The couple have claimed the rise in drug-related deaths showed prohibition did not work and that addicts should be protected instead of being persecuted.




They argue drug use should be treated as a health issue rather than a criminal justice one.

Rose said they decided to raise their three sons in Bromsgrove because ‘it was a nice area with a low crime rate and was a good place to bring up a family’.


“People have remarked ‘It was their choice to use drugs’ as though they deserved what happened to them.

“Yes, of course it was their choice. But nearly 40 per cent of our young people make that choice.

“For some of those, unfortunately, it gets out of control.”

Rose claims a reformed drugs policy would have saved her sons. She said Jake was in healthy relationship, worked as an art psychotherapist in London, and doted on his son.

But he suffered a relapse after staying clean for seven years and went back to street dealers. Rose said if, instead, he was able to walk into a clinic and get help, he would still be alive.

Rose said her other son Roland’s life could also have been saved had those around him at the time called 999 sooner instead of being afraid of getting into trouble with the law.

“Although changing drug policy is too late for my sons, I hope we can influence it so other families will not have to lose their children like we did.

“I didn’t expect this to happen. It can happen to anyone.

“And as the last 50 years has shown, persecution does not stop drug use, it causes in fact more drug-related deaths.”

Rose said while the Government has claimed drug policy has led to a slight reduction in drug users – drug-related deaths were at the highest since records began in 1993.

She added drug policy should not be based on the number of users but the number of people who were dying.

“That figure is frightening when the National Office of Statistics has reported there’s up to 50 drug-related deaths in the UK every week.

“We should be looking at how we can prevent people from dying and the best way to achieve that is to make drugs safer.”

The legalise campaign has argued correct doses of harder substances like heroin should be prescribed in clinics by medics to prevent users overdosing while keeping criminal gangs at bay.

Rose said it was easy to mistake support for the legalisation of drugs with condoning drug use.

“I would prefer people not to take drugs, but so many are at risk when they buy from criminal gangs, so it’s up to us to make it safer – as seen in countries like Portugal and Switzerland, where users are given counselling and support, where drug-related deaths have fallen considerably and re-integration into society through rehabilitation has been nothing short of successful.”

A West Mercia Police spokesperson said: “Changes to legislation and how they are implemented were a matter for Parliament.

“We are committed to protecting our communities from the harm caused by drugs. We would encourage people who have information about the supply of illegal substances to contact us by calling 101, or this information can be passed on anonymously by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or by visiting www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

Information on drug abuse is available by calling FRANK on 0300 123 6600, or by visiting their website www.talktofrank.com, which also gives details of local support services.”

Rose said she had spoken to Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid who, at her request, passed her views onto the Home Office.

Rose has since received a letter from the Government stating it felt the current drug policies were working.

Mr Javid has confirmed a member of his team would be attending Wednesday’s fringe conference: Will Conservatives Get Drugs Under Control.

Visit www.anyoneschild.org for more on the event.

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