Decriminalise All Drug Use?

[mushroom25]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21004715
mr clegg says goverrnment drug policy is failing on an industrial scale.
a home office select committee calls for a royal commission on reshaping drugs legislation.
and now this, supported by ACPO.

Is this the answer - assuming, of course, the UK needs an answer?

[EDDIE51]

I have advocated this for years , there is a huge diffrence between decriminalizing and legalising but most people think it is the same thing.
Portugal has decriminalised drugs and it has been very successful. There drug use and drug related crime have seen a large decrease.

[youngmafbog]

The problem is that drug control of some means is required. Yes, it could well be best to decriminalize 'soft drugs' but if you go any further where do you stop? Do you keep prescription drugs? and if you decriminalize then effectively you are legalizing.

Some drugs are very harmful, I can imagine the ambulance chasing pond dwelling lawyers having a field day with this suing the Government when it goes horribly wrong for some.

[anotheoldgit]

Some of the young of today cannot control their alcohol intake, can one imagine the problems if drugs were legally available as well?

[aelmpvw]

it would certainly upset the drug barons if they were legalised and people who want to dabble in drugs aren't put off by the illegality of it

[LazyGun]

Its a vexed issue. We could continue with a war on drugs, just say no, and globally spending billions of dollars or pounds of taxpayers money, taking up a disproportionate amount of police resources, and still having the same outcomes, which is a large unpoliced uncontrolled black market for drugs, with obscene profit margins, untaxed cash gravitating into the hands of major criminal organisations, poor quality if not downright dangerous "product" , poorly treated addicts, serious crime from the murderous territory wars with other gangs and conflicts with the authorities, and a wave of petty crime from addicts looking to fund their habits. Drugs form a staple part of the gang culture, here and in most other developed countries.

I no longer believe that this is a sustainable or effective approach. We should recognise that, along with food, shelter and sex, the need to get high by one means or another almost amounts to a basic human drive.

There is scant evidence that Prohibition is an effective policy. What seems a far better approach is to decriminalise the possession and use of certain drugs, such as cannabis and E, but implement social rules for their use, rather like we do for alcohol. For example,make it a dismissible offence to turn up for work under the influence. Make it a criminal offence to operate machinery whilst under the influence.Provide the Police and health workers with easy to use instant result test kits for screening purposes, as they do now for alocohol. Educate everyone on the dangers of consumption, just as we now do for alcohol and tobacco.

One would hope the result would be to refocus policing resources on the truly dangerous, highly addictive drugs. Were they decriminalised, the production and distribution of those selected drugs could be properly regulated to ensure product quality. Such businesses could be taxed, to bring in revenue.Treat addiction as a health issue, rather than a criminal one.

Were we to implement such changes, it could undermine the whole basis of the illegal drugs industry,proving a far more effective tool than running gun battles on the streets of Mexico City, for example.

Experience from Portugal, where they have changed the law on possession for personal use seems to have had good results, so it seems worth trying, in my opinion.

[rojash]

You'd think that that people could learn from the prohibition era in the States. Making booze illegal didn't stop people drinking, it just ensured the rise to power of the Mafia. The so called "war on drugs" hasn't reduced drug abuse, it's just made a lot of Colombian and Afghan warlords so rich and powerful that they can take on nations.


If the purpose of a law is to improve and protect the well-being of the people, and if a law demonstrably fails in that in that aim, then it's a bad law.

The illegality of drugs has not prevented the abuse and addiction, but in addition to empowering major criminals, it also makes ordinary people the victims of petty (and not so petty crime) which addicts are forced into in order to feed their habits.

Many addicts start out by being enticed into taking drugs - usually for free, because the pusher sees it as an investment. If drugs were legal, but the supply was highly regulated, many of the problems and crimes associated with the drug scene would be reduced.

[atalanta]

There's a way round this, which will satisfy everyone and bring vast amounts of money into the government's coffers. Let the drug companies bid for government licences to make copy-drugs. A cocaine-like drug, a cannabis-like drug, and a heroin-type drug, say. The licences will cost zillions, but will be worth it because investors will fall over themselves to buy shares in the companies. I shall be very surprised if most drug companies don't already have exciting stuff on the back shelf which, with a bit of tinkering, is capable of creating "highs". The drugs will be tested, so will be clean and pure, and the dosage will be regularised. The drugs will be taxed, the profits will be taxed, and all the criminals in this country will turn to smuggling our nice new drugs into the US and other countries. Imagine the call for volunteers for the mandatory testing process! people might even pay to be volunteers instead of the drug companies having to pay them !

[EDDIE51]

AOG exactly how hard do you think it is nowadays to find a 'dealer' and get hold of some illegal substances? It is easier than buying a packet of fags.
I never touch them but I could get in touch with a dealer within 1/2 an hour at most. The problem is that as he stuff is illegal there is no quality control any old rubbish can and does get sold some of it leathal . All the tobacco companies have registered trade names to start selling cannabis as soon as it becomes legal they have had them for at least 25 years.