Agencies/London
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Mitch Winehouse (left) leaves with MP Keith Vaz from the Houses of Parliament in London yesterday |
Mitch Winehouse discussed plans to tackle a gap in treatment services and wider drugs policy with Crime Minister James Brokenshire.
“I want to involve myself in things that would be important to Amy,” the taxi driver said.
“This isn’t only important to me, this is important to our whole country. There’s hundreds of thousands of young people in situations today that could be avoided, and these are our future policemen, doctors and lawyers and solicitors, that we could help.”
Winehouse, 27, was found dead at her north London home on July 23. Her death remains unexplained, with toxicology test results due within the next three weeks, although it is not being treated as suspicious.
The soul singer’s sultry vocal talents were often overshadowed by her drink and drug addictions, and her best-known single, “Rehab”, detailed her troubles and reluctance to undergo rehabilitation treatment.
“I think there is a new emphasis and thinking within the government to try and get treatment in at the sharp end rather than money being wasted through the criminal justice system,” Mitch Winehouse said.
“There was one rehab centre for juveniles, Middlegate, which has just shut down because of a lack of funding.
“We were in the fortunate position of being able to fund Amy to go into private rehab, but this is about people who can’t afford it.”
Mitch Winehouse was joined by his daughter’s managers, Raye Cosbert and Trenton Harrison-Lee, and Sarah Graham, a former cocaine user and addiction expert.
Graham said: “We didn’t know it (Amy’s death) was going to happen but we hope it will show people that addiction is something that can kill people when they are very young and that we should not wait until it is too late.” She said most treatment was not residential but accessed in the community.
Winehouse said in his eulogy at his daughter’s funeral last week that Amy had just completed three weeks of abstinence and may have struggled to deal with the sudden withdrawal.
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, said: “Mitch Winehouse gave powerful evidence to the home affairs select committee during our inquiry into drugs in 2009. Drawing on his personal experience he highlighted the long delay in accessing treatment for those with addiction.
“Two years on we need to revisit this issue to see if anything has improved. I am very happy to help Mitch in any way I can with his important campaign to help rehabilitate those most vulnerable in our society.”