Drug sense momentum

 

Is good sense gathering momentum in the drugs debate? There are some encouraging developments.

Tomorrow I will be making the case on LBC. The interview is based on the splendid article in today's Observer (Extracts below). This week there will be a conference in the House of Lords organised by Lords and MPs who are convinced that prohibition has been 40 years of abject lethal failure.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/13/drugs-cameron?intcmp=239

Last week, LibDem Tom Brake has tabled this EDM which I was very happy to second.

That this House notes the serious harm caused by drugs; recognises the need for evidence-based policy making with a clear focus on prevention and harm-reduction; and calls on the Government to establish an independent panel tasked with carrying out an impact assessment of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, reviewing the approach adopted by other countries, and making recommendations for reform.

'Columbian President Santos is an increasingly influential figure in Latin American politics. The former Brazilian president, Lula da Silva, said recently that Santos, who comes to Britain in two weeks, was assuming the mantle of a continental leader.

Da Silva's compliment is true in at least one respect, since Santos has emerged as the leading voice on the international political stage calling for a major rethink on the war on drugs. Santos's call for a new debate about drug regulation is heavily symbolic, since Colombia has suffered more than any other country at the hands of narcotics traffickers.

Santos has drawn attention to the damage suffered by the producing nations in Latin America as they continue to serve the growing demand for drugs in the consuming nations of the west. His voice is becoming the key one in trying to set the terms for a new international discussion about the war.

Santos, an urbane, affable 60-year-old, who was elected last year, is well placed to lead the global debate. He is a keen internationalist and was educated at Harvard and the London School of Economics. One colleague described London as his "dream city". His visit to Britain will be part of his attempt to rebrand his country – from the failed state of 10 years ago to an emerging economic powerhouse in Latin America.' 

 

Comments

[Rob Young]

Good article. I do think its criminal how the majority of politicians wont even aknowledge there are different alternatives to criminalizing addicts. Addiciton should never be a crime. How do people expect addicts of illegal drugs to ever be in a position to stop while classed as criminal!! The very second you class addicts of certain drugs criminals is the very second they will start behaving as such.

I am a recovering heroin addict, alcoholic and prescription drug addict so i know what i say is fact first hand. Luckily i always managed to keep friends and family close to me and didnt have to go down the crime route, if i had id probably be on my 4-5th prison sentence now, not caring because i could score inside aswell as out.

Im currently working as a drugs worker and the job is fine but the fact of the matter is most of the people i see dont want to or are not in a position to stop. At the moment if they dont say they want to stop what help is there? Anyone gets sent to rehab which is wrong because anyone there for the wrong reason may effect someone who is there for the right reasons, ive seen this first hand and heard of such things many times.

How about we empower addicts, treat them like human beings and at least let them have the chance of a normal life, not everyone will be able to manage it but at least we will only be dealing with the very worst addicts who genuinely need the extra help.

Sorry for the rant, i can see im preaching to the choir here but something desperately needs to change and i for one am going to do everything in my power to make it happen.

Good on you for speaking out, i was starting to think all politicians were lacking the backbone they were born with.

[Tim Morton]

In a more apposite use, you are indeed, indefatigable. Salaam.

[HuwOS]

You are preaching to the choir Rob, but it's such a small choir it's good to hear it.

And the more it's preached the more people who aren't members of the choir can see that there isn't just one view, and especially with your piece, they can hopefully see that the minority view is the one based in rationality and experience.

Kudos to you.

[Mike Williams]

Its refreshing to see the debate is gathering momentum by the day, I am continually sickened by the hypocrisy of our current drugs policies and become increasingly frustrated by the ever growing amount of evidence against prohibition and the current law which is continue sly protected by those in power due to their own "vested interests personally or of those close to them", I am hoping with the public demanding more transparency of publicly funded contracts, we could all make a concerted effort to detail a case that could be take to the uppermost echelons of Global power? Would Britain deny the UN if it could be proven to save millions of lives worldwide, with the introduction of a independent body that governed the production, quality, distribution, and research into each and every single drug, thus trying to find alternatives to our current prescription drugs which have been somewhat restricted into research with regards to illicit substances?

[Rob Young]

Thanks for the kind words Tim. What gets to me most is that anyone who knows anything about addiction of any kind will always say "it not the drugs that are the problem its some of the people who use them". What they then fail to do is take the next step on the logic ladder and ask why 99% of the cash goes towards stopping the drugs!!

It really is insanity, i stand at work, cigarette in one hand telling people they should give up there drug of choice for a better life, the hypocrisy i feel really does get to me. Here is a drug thats perfectly legal, affordable, as addictive as heroin and that slowy but surely with every puff kills you. Regulated heroin use on the other hand, once dose is set is relatively harmless health wise, even after prolonged use.

Now im not advocating heroin for sure but the facts are the facts and they are the only kind of thing that are important regarding drug policy.

I have different reasons for wanting different drugs legally regulated, every drug that is relatively safer than alcohol should be regulated in a similar way to alcohol, anything more dangerous ie heroin, cocaine, methadone etc should be regulated for the very reason that its dangerous. I really do feel if heroin was taken off the streets and prescribed to addicts you could virtually wipe out the black market in it fairly quickly. Make dealing high risk/low reward and you will only get the odd nutter willing to do it.

People will always want to take different drugs, if the last 50 years has shown us anything its that very fact. Its ok for prohibitionists to rant on about protecting the public etc but to know there are millions of people out there using substances they have to buy off criminals and all the problems to society that go with it and do nothing is the only crime i can see. Shame on Cameron and the lot before him, shame on the Daily Mail who just seem to print what they like and shame on all the bigots out there who hate users of some drugs but happily spend every night in the boozer puffing away on there cancer sticks!!!!

[Evidence based policy]

Thank you to give such important information for us

[Owen Lowe]

I think we should tackle how we can gain momentum in fighting drug addiction through information gathering and sharing, and coordination with other local agencies. Also, we can boost education on the negative effects of drinking so the youth would have the courage to say "no" when offered a drink.

[D.G.]

Everyone - especially the youth - already knows the negative effects of drinking.

But if we could figure a way of giving people the same social bonding experiences that you get from a night on the town or a shared couple of bottles of wine, we'd be more than halfway there.

[HuwOS]

I doubt the "Owen Lowe" is looking for a conversation DG, just an Austin based "rehab" company trying to boost their google rank.

If they were not however, I would hope they would not be trying to push a just say no policy as far as alcohol is concerned when they should be pushing a know when you've had enough policy.

But the US does have some bizarre leftovers from alcohol prohibition that mean you can fight and die for your country, not to mention taking charge of motorised vehicles with which you can be a threat to yourself and others long before you're legally considered to be mature enough to drink alcohol.