legalise all drugs

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September 19, 2006 at 9:51 am

#675708
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Raj

@raj

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5357172.stm

Last Updated: Monday, 18 September 2006, 16:04 GMT 17:04 UK

Legalise all drugs, say Lib Dems

Senior Liberal Democrats have urged the party’s leadership to consider backing the legalisation of all drugs.

Chris Davies MEP said the “war on drugs” had been lost and the only way to undermine the criminals controlling the trade was legalisation.

Speaking at a fringe meeting at the party’s Brighton conference, he urged Lib Dems to lobby home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg to change policy.

He was backed by education spokesman Baroness Walmsley.

She told the meeting it was time to “think the unthinkable” on the drugs issue and consider legalisation.

“I think the issue is a no-brainer. We have got to go along this direction,” she said.

Drug capital

It would contribute to harm reduction, tackle gun culture, save police time and reduce the amount of drug-related crime including theft.

“We are not talking about selling penny packets in a sweet shop. We are talking about sensible controls,” she told the meeting.

She urged party members to “perhaps write to Nick Clegg and say we want more discussion in the party”.

She denied the stance was seeking to turn Britain into the drug capital of the world.

“The last thing we would want is for any child to take drugs,” she said.

“But also people should have the freedom to put into their bodies what they want without any more harm than they would want.”

‘Ammunition’

Mr Davies, who is an outspoken campaigner for the decriminalisation of drugs, said he wanted the Lib Dem policy on drugs to be “looked at again”.

“I hope Nick Clegg will explore this issue again. I know from brief talks with him he is mindful to do so but I know he is mindful of giving ammunition to his opposition,” he told the meeting.

The North West MEP likened the “war on drugs” to the Emperor’s new clothes. “We keep saying ‘war on drugs’ year in year out but it achieves nothing.

“It’s time to stop pointing and laughing at this piece of nonsense.”

Mr Davies said he had never taken illegal drugs but had once been arrested for possession of a tiny quantity of cannabis he was using to illustrate a point at a public meeting.

‘Licensed outlet’

He said state licensed drug dealers could undercut illegal dealers on price and put them out of business.

He also called for a debate about how drugs would be sold once they had been legalised, “if you are going to sell it through a licensed outlet, a chemist’s shop or something like a sex shop”.

He argued that legalisation could not just occur within the UK but had to happen around the world.

He urged party members to lobby the United Nations, which meets in Vienna in March to reconsider the 1961 convention on illegal drugs, which guides policy around the world.

‘Fighting hard’

Inspector Jim Duffy, chairman of the Strathclyde Police Federation, backed Mr Davies’ call for legalisation.

Stressing that he was speaking in a personal capacity and not on behalf of Strathclyde Police, the inspector said: “We are not winning the war against illegal drugs.

“We are fighting hard, becoming smarter and sharper; as are those we are fighting against. If the current rules of engagement do not change then we are destined to continue to fail.”

He said drug addicts should be given access to substances that “do exactly what they say on the tin”.

“Lives could be saved if addicts purchasing regulated drugs could be sure of their strength and purity,” he added.
September 19, 2006 at 10:03 am

#725683
1

Shit Robot

@shit-robot

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My first (Knee jerk) Reaction is “Way To Go” If they were to spend the same ammount of money they spend “fighting” the drug problem on helping and or informing drug users,It can only be a good thing surely.
I would have thought that maybe you would see a honeymoon period of people just getting trashed as fuck and then calming back down to a sensible degree of usage as personal needs dictate.Opiates are a thorny subject but
Either way drug users will find drugs whatever.Thats my view and now Ive thought about it for a minute I think Im sticking with it.(Think he says)Maybe Im not as decisive about this as I thought.
Anyone Else?
September 19, 2006 at 10:32 am

#725678
1

Raj

@raj

Member
it would remove the criminal element from the chain and clean up the supply – that alone would save lives

at the end of the day prohibiton doesnt work – it just means criminals can make huge profits:you_crazy:you_crazy:you_crazy thats how the mafia rose to such a powerful position in america – supplying alcohol during the prohibition years

another point to consider is if these drugs werent taboo they might be less attractive? [couldnt really be seen as a form of rebellion]

research on the longterm effects could be more easily carried out and real information instead of scaremongering tactics would be available ; safe consumption guidelines would be provided at the point of sale and people should have the safe uses of the drugs and their risks explained to them

if the drugs were legal users might ask for help sooner instead of thinking ‘well i dont want people to know that i have been taking ….’ and leaving it too late – users experiencing difficulties might feel less reluctance in seeking treatment if they were not afraid of being reported to the authorities

accidental overdoses would be reduced – reliable strength of supply and purity of supply would save lives – and not just those of heroin users either

the money invested in the ‘war on drugs’ could be used to help addicts and improve public health instead

legal drugs could be taxed – just like alcohol and cigarettes are – a source of income for goverment

cities might be nicer to be in at night instead of alcohol fuelled flash points of violence; A & E departments would be emptier if less alcohol was being consumed as alcohol is a large contributing factor to the busyness of A&Es at the weekend

there could be a return to the use of many of the currently illegal drugs for counselling and dealing with conditions such as post traumatic stress [for example ecstasy] as was being done before they became illegal

its my view that a chemists would be the initial ideal place to sell legalised party drugs from as chemists are well informed and can advise on possible drug interactions and side effects

[going to stop now and let someone else have a say:wink:]
September 19, 2006 at 10:35 am

#725677
6

General Lighting

@general-lighting

Moderator
Staff
GoodDoG wrote:

My first (Knee jerk) Reaction is “Way To Go” If they were to spend the same ammount of money they spend “fighting” the drug problem on helping and or informing drug users,It can only be a good thing surely.
I would have thought that maybe you would see a honeymoon period of people just getting trashed as fuck and then calming back down to a sensible degree of usage as personal needs dictate.Opiates are a thorny subject but
Either way drug users will find drugs whatever.Thats my view and now Ive thought about it for a minute I think Im sticking with it.(Think he says)Maybe Im not as decisive as I thought.
Anyone Else?

its a sensible idea – although it would require substantial short-term resource input into the NHS, and an acceptance of an initial spike in crimes, violence and deaths.

This country already has a bingeing culture with regard to all forms of hedonism, and a culture of random violence when people lose their social inhibitions.

Also the existing dealing networks would fight hard for their slice of the legitimate trade.

TBH I would rather see a “qualified” decriminalisation/legalisation – laws that would remove all penalties for possession and even low level dealing – provided that no other crime is committed because of the drugs.

In that case they should be punished for both the crime and the former penalty for the drugs posession; thus giving a clear message that drugs use is no excuse for violent or anti-social behaviour, and the right to take these substances is conditional on acceptable behaviour within society.

And with all the “normal” small-time users not getting in trouble; there would be plenty of resources left to give the thugs a real prison sentence of several years!

Large scale dealers should be licensed by the NHS (the money thus gained should be ringfenced for healthcare purposes) and must not have any previous record of violent crime, nor serious offences of dishonesty.

If it were a unilateral decision, a wider problem to deal with though would be other sovereign nations with socially conservative régimes withdrawing investment from the UK in reprisal; and creating a potential economic recession… a populist right-wing government in another nation could easily scoop up the lost business.

Lots of UK companies depend on US trade – and if countries like Malaysia and Singapore stopped sending their container ships to Britain’s ports thousands of jobs could be lost.

If people were not careful Such a recession (and people taking drugs to “cope” with it) could easily be “engineered” to turn the decriminalisation into a “failed experiment”.
September 19, 2006 at 10:54 am

#725679
1

Raj

@raj

Member
yup

i like your idea too

obviously it would be best if drugs were legalised world wide rather than just in the UK

i like Portugal’s model for drugs and the law – not something that is widely publicised
http://www.drugtext.org/library/articles/pordecrim.htm

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4415

some interesting reading

http://www.mapinc.org/newscsdp/v05/n1073/a04.htm

http://www.csdp.org/research/blair_drugs_report.pdf

http://www.csdp.org/news/news/intupdate.htm

http://www.forgetmagazine.com/080701.htm
September 19, 2006 at 1:07 pm

#725681
1

the rev

@the-rev

Member
I think this would be a great idea! Prohibition clearly doesn’t work. I don’t think for a second if say heroin was legal, we would have a particulary large rise in the number of addicts, the revenue that was generated from the sale of narcotics could be pumped directly into our ailing NHS.

In my opinion Great Britain is the drugs capital of the world anyway. We seem to have a greater variety of drugs and generally pay a lot less than our european neighbours.

If this does happen i may actually stay in the country and open up a coffe shop, although I suspect if it does ever happen it will be a long way off.
September 19, 2006 at 1:10 pm

#725680
1

Raj

@raj

Member
any other views out there? :groucho:

please come and have your say on the matter so we can have a representative debate on the matter 😉

everyone has the right to an opinion [but no personal attacks on folk please – just express your views and make your arguements – thanks]
September 19, 2006 at 1:16 pm

#725682
1

the rev

@the-rev

Member
Also we would never have all those reports of “killer ecstacy” in the papers. Just good clean harmless (relativley) pills.:bounce_fl
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