We'll raid clubs and parties to end 'drugs for fun' culture

The new chief of Scotland Yard declared war on the culture of middle- class and celebrity drug use today.

Speaking as he took up his post today, Sir Ian Blair issued a stark warning to "weekend" users who "trade in misery".

He said: "Drugs, particularly opiates and cocaine, are a curse for us. It is not just enough to say 'we take a bit of charlie at the weekend and that's fine'.

"There are a group of people in the capital that believe they are taking harm-free cocaine.

"There is a sense that people think that in certain fashionable clubs, restaurants and dinner parties it is okay to do drugs. All I will say is that people may find out that it is not.

"I am not interested in the harm that it is doing to them personally but the price of that cocaine is misery on estates in London and blood on the road to Colombia and Afghanistan.

"I do not think there are areas of the capital that are exempt from the law on drugs. I think sometimes people think their weekend wrap of charlie is harm-free but it may not be harm-free for much longer. People think it's okay but I do not think it's okay to use cocaine. I think we have to make a few examples of people so that they understand."

Sir Ian, who takes over as Metropolitan Police Commissioner from Sir John Stevens, warned that police had the option of raiding clubs and restaurants where they knew there was cocaine use.

He said he believed Princess Diana's former lover James Hewitt had got off lightly after he was given a caution for possession of cocaine last year.

The commissioner warned that weekend users of drugs could soon find themselves in some "uncomfortable situations".

"The testing of cocaine on toilet cisterns in various clubs is enough to tell you that there is an awful lot going on."

Sir Ian's comments are believed to include celebrities who routinely flaunt their drug use. He made clear police would continue to target major drug traffickers "dealing in death" from homes in the suburbs.

The 24th commissioner of the Met, who started as a beat bobby in Soho, issued a warning about a Madrid-style terrorist attack in the run-up to the election and backed calls to give householders greater rights in defending their homes.

Sir Ian, who takes over after four years as deputy in the Met, also declared war on " yobbish" behaviour.

In an open letter to Londoners to be published tomorrow, he pledges that within five years every ward in London will get beat bobby neighbourhood teams to patrol the streets. Other priorities are to keep London safe from terrorism and target prolific-offenders, "men of violence" who use guns and knives.

His first action today was to change the Met's logo to " Working Together for a Safer London".