One of Victoria's most senior police officials has urged the government to treat drug abuse as a health issue rather than a law and order problem, saying he would rather see funding go to health and welfare services than to more police.

Assistant Commissioner Andrew Crisp, speaking at the Yarra Drug and Health Forum last Monday, said more police or jails were not the only solution to drug woes.

'We should tackle it as a health issue. Police are an agency of last resort; we're left to pick up the pieces.' - Andrew Crisp.

''We should tackle it as a health issue. Police are an agency of last resort; we're left to pick up the pieces. At times there is too much emphasis on police. We're one part of the solution,'' he said. ''We don't want to see another 1400 officers promised … there's politics and then there's public policy. We don't like the bidding wars.''

The Assistant Commissioner's comments are potentially embarrassing to the state government, which won the 2010 election in part due to its hardline law-and-order policy, including the employment of 1600 more police officers and 100 more transit police at a cost of $334 million over four years.