Drugs - The need for a serious rethink on drug policy

The necessity for an urgent grown up discussion on the issue of illicit drugs from our political elite

Despite the issue of legalising drugs being prominent in British society at the moment, I have always wondered why the topic is so rarely on the political agenda. No mainstream political party is in favour of legalisation or even having a serious discussion on it. Indeed, it seems our politicians are petrified to use the word “Legalise” even on class C substances. It is bizarre that the UK is less liberal than the USA on anything, but along with freedom of speech, the issue of drugs is certainly one of them with many US states such as Washington and Colorado introducing laws such as the legalisation of cannabis in recent years despite still being illegal on a Federal level.

I recall an incident from late 2009 when an expert on the issue of drugs, Professor David Nutt was sacked by then Home Secretary Alan Johnson simply for disagreeing with the outgoing Labour administration on the decision to reclassify Cannabis from a Class C drug to a Class B drug. Dismissing someone from a job simply for expressing disagreement with a superior is very childish, which in most other jobs would be grounds for lodging appeal of “Unfair dismissal”.

I remember at the start of this year around February the government announced that the drug Ketamine would be upgraded from a Class C drug to a Class B hoping that it would “send a message that the drug is harmful” according to the Liberal Democrat Minister for Crime Norman Baker. Yes, of course increasing the length of sentence served by users would definitely stop people from using this drug... Not only would they then have ready access to drugs in prisons with nothing to do with their time, it would also ruin their lives and future employment prospects. This was for the sake of their health of course...

We often hear idle talk from politicians and the health police that excessive drug use is harmful for people. Yes, I don't know if anyone has ever told our kids this, but taking an excessive amount of anything is harmful for you. It is likely if you drink alcohol or smoke excessively every day you will develop health problems... Government regulation of drugs would restrict consumption and ensure that the drugs are “clean” and not mixed with foreign chemicals which would reduce the harm they cause. There is no doubt drugs can harm people, everyone knows the risks associated with drugs before they take them and it is a personal choice on whether they want to take drugs. The same way people choose whether they drink alcohol or smoke which also affect people's health. Something which has always intrigued me is why there is no such laws prohibiting tobacco and alcohol despite the evidence that they cause more damage to society than class C drugs for example. Questions must be asked as to why is alcohol not prohibited in the same way as other drugs despite evidence that alcohol consumption increases the chances of crime (Despite the Scottish administrations ridiculous illiberal proposal of minimum price alcohol which affects ordinary working class people and will only benefit huge corporations such as Asda and Tesco).

Another argument from the anti-drugs brigade is that people are more likely to engage in wider criminal activities if they are under the influence of drugs. Yes, because drugs becoming decriminalised or legalised would stop prosecutions for other criminal acts committed by people under the influence of drugs. If I assault someone whilst under the influence of drugs, I will still be prosecuted for the assault I have committed. It is an absurd notion to ban things simply because there s a correlation between violence and the substance. From my personal experiences the only thing that someone under the influence of Cannabis will want to attack is the fridge which cannot be said of alcohol. It is also the case that only a very small proportion of illicit drug users have any problems relating to their health or with their relationship with the law.

Savings could also be made by having fewer people in prison for committing drug offences. Although legalization would not eliminate the black market in drugs, it would significantly reduce it because the state would then be losing less revenue through people dealing illegally and the government could also raise revenue from levying taxes on drugs in the event of legalization which would be helpful especially in a time of austerity. The problem of prostitution (which I believe should be legalised too but there you go) would also be mitigated if drugs were legalised and regulated by the state. The government could also spend the money gained through levying taxes on the drugs and savings on prisons and police officers to put more money into rehabilitation systems and to give a better education about the dangers of taking drugs

If illicit drugs are to remain prohibited in society, what should happen to people who consume them? It is neither justifiable nor cost effective for the state that someone who has taken drugs casually as a one off may be thrown in prison for quite a long time and have their career ruined only because they made one mistake. Punishment of this kind neither helps society in cases like this or the individual involved. A move towards legalization would also lessen the stigma of people coming forward about having a problem with illicit drugs making it easier to help rehabilitate them back into society.

It is insane and immoral that we are making criminals out of people who may be doing things the majority of society may not approve of but who are causing no harm to anyone else in a developed country in the 21st century. For example, a group of students smoking Cannabis at the weekend are doing no harm to anyone else, however if they are caught they can have their careers ruined. There have also been some cases where people have used illicit drugs for medical purposes. For example there have been cases of people taking drugs to help relieve the pain of arthritis or cancer. An elderly lady who takes marijuana to help her cope with arthritis could also be jailed. Punishment of this kind neither helps society in cases like this or the individuals involved. These people are not criminals.

The sad thing about this whole issue is that it is political suicide for any mainstream politician to endorse any kind of legalisation no matter what the drug is. We have a broken elite who simply refuse to engage with the issue critically despite a wide consensus that the War on Drugs has been an unmitigated disaster from the start. The time for our politicians to grow up on this issue is now, instead of peddling the failed message “drugs are bad, mkay”.

Reply 1

Spetznaaz

Didn't read but i know exactly what it would have said.

Unfortunately the politicians know full well that the law on drugs causes more harm than drugs ever could.

Noticed Prof's Nutt's name mentioned - Cool guy, comes into my work sometimes. He does some very informative lectures for anyone interested on the subject. He's a perfect example of what happens when someone speaks sense.

I really don't see change happening any time soon. Ten years ago i would of said cannabis would be legalised by now... But here we are. It's sad but unfortunately the people who run this country truly don't give a **** about the gen pop.

Reply 2

Steezy

Well yes, I think most people know that a lot of drugs should be legalised and controlled, rather than locking people up, ruing their lives, not to mention the lives of the people who cultivate these drugs for their livelihoods.

There is a strange circle of people who appear on my TV from time to time, shouting like children, talking over each other and just being absolute childish *****, without sorting anything out.

So we can have intelligent discussions about it IRL, but don't bet on that in Parliament.

Drugs - The need for a serious rethink on drug policy

Quick Reply

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you