Sir Ian Blair, the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, today called on the business community to join in the battle against the growing use of cocaine.
Sir Ian also suggested that a he wanted to enter into a dialogue with businesses about how to fund investigation into fraud. "Even if we received just a nano-fraction of the revenue generated in City transactions, we could stamp out fraud," he said.
Speaking at the CBI Conference in London, Sir Ian said that the UK now had the highest number of cocaine users in the EU, with 12 per cent of 16- to 34-year-olds admitting to have used the drug.
In what many observers will see as a barely disguised call for more businesses to drug test their staff, Sir Ian said business must work more closely with the police to help deal with the problem.
"Cocaine leaves a trail of blood that starts on the estates of London and leads all the way back to Colombia," Sir Ian said. "And the people who are using this drug are working for your companies," he added, pointing to the audience.
And in a thinly-veiled reference to the Greenpeace demonstration which had disrupted the conference earlier, he said it was a shame no one protested about the 2 million hectares of Colombian rainforest that are cut down every year for cocaine production.
John Cridland, the deputy director general of the CBI, said Sir Ian’s comments about professional people using recreational drugs reflected the new challenges businesses face in "a rapidly changing world."
He refused to endorse mandatory drug testing - a relative commonplace in many American businesses - but said that the CBI would work with the police to tackle the problem.
Sir Ian also called on pubs and clubs who were benefiting from the recent relaxation in drinking laws to pay more towards the cost of late night policing.
"Football clubs pay for policing arrangements because it is considered a special interest group. As far as I am concerned, anyone who wants to drink at 3am is a special interest group."
He added it was "unfair" for the police to have to put officers out on the streets at 4am to deal with drink-related violence when most people wanted the police to be around at "four in the afternoon".
Sir Ian would not be drawn on yesterday's announcement of the official enquiry into the police shooting in Stockwell in July, following the 7/7 bombings in London, beyond saying: "I welcome the enquiry.
"It's a proper part of the police service's accountability and openness to scrutiny."
Full coverage of the CBI Conference here
