20 years too late

Decriminalise drug use, say experts after six-year study

Advisors say no serious rise in consumption is likely if possession of small amounts of controlled drugs is allowed

A review of the government’s appraoch to cannabis and other drugs is needed, says the independent body that analyses drug laws Photograph: PA

A six-year study of Britain’s drug laws by leading scientists, police officers, academics and experts has concluded it is time to introduce decriminalisation.

The report by the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC), an independent advisory body, says possession of small amounts of controlled drugs should no longer be a criminal offence and concludes the move will not lead to a significant increase in use.

The experts say the criminal sanctions imposed on the 42,000 people sentenced each year for possession of all drugs – and the 160,000 given cannabis warnings – should be replaced with simple civil penalties such as a fine, attendance at a drug awareness session or a referral to a drug treatment programme.

They also say that imposing minimal or no sanctions on those growing cannabis for personal use could go some way to undermining the burgeoning illicit cannabis factories controlled by organised crime.

But their report rejects any more radical move to legalisation, saying that allowing the legal sale of drugs such as heroin or cocaine could cause more damage than the existing drugs trade.

The commission is chaired by Dame Ruth Runciman with a membership that includes the former head of the British Medical Research Council, Prof Colin Blakemore, and the former chief inspector of constabulary, David Blakey.

The report says their analysis of the evidence shows that existing drugs policies struggle to make an impact and, in some cases, may make the problem worse.

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Opinion:

Six years to make and 20 years too late. they came to the same conclusion that I did in 10 minutes 20 years ago.

I’m not a peer of the realm, I don’t have a fancy title and I certainly wasn’t paid as handsomely as the members of this ‘esteemed’ committee would have been.

Actually, my conclusions were far more reaching.

Drug addiction is a sickness, in the same way as alcoholism, not a crime; and therein lies the problem.

You can’t use a screwdriver to tighten a nut; and that’s what the fools have been trying to do since the 1960s. Treating a sickness as a crime, it’s as daft as saying homosexuals are criminals not the result of genetics.

Absolute proof that politicians haven’t any idea what they’re doing.

“The home secretary, Theresa May, last month ruled out any moves towards decriminalisation, saying it would lead to further problems.

She told MPs she considered cannabis a gateway drug: “People can die as a result of taking drugs, and significant mental health problems can arise as a result of taking drugs.”” – The Guardian

See what I mean, even the Home Secretary is an idiot, no idea that her mouth is opening and closing.

Drugs need to be decriminalised, ALL drugs; it’s the only way to bring the addicted to heel for treatment, to divide them from the recreational user, and to remove the criminal element from the chain of supply.

As a direct result of criminalisation there have been some horrific new drugs developed, drugs that really do KILL. Just last week I read of a case in New Zealand where yet another form of synthetic marijuana has surfaced, as yet it’s not illegal, it’s available beyond the reach of the law, and it is KILLING. These things are surfacing faster than the law can be changed. If marijuana was decriminalised these drugs would not be needed.

The war on drugs is not winnable. The authorities have as much chance of winning as flying to the moon on a unicorn. In fact the latter, is probably more possible.