`Drug
War' Failing
Lord
Mancroft, Vice Chairman Parliamentary All Party
Misuse of Drugs Group, London UK
ref:
October 99 Heroinsight
JAMES
DELINGPOLE (article 4/9/99) made the case for legalising
drugs that I have been advocating for some time.
Successive governments have spent more and more
money waging their `war on drugs', during which
time drug use has increased unchecked and with it
the crime that is the inevitable consequence of
prohibition.
At
the same time, health care for drug addicts, which
is demonstrably successful, is starved of resources,
because so much is spent on police, probation and
legal costs.
The
cornerstone of the Government's strategy, apart
from its reliance on the criminal justice system.
is to prevent young people experimenting with drugs
by educating them about the consequences. Evidence
suggests this will be about as effective as sex
education has been in reducing the number of children
giving birth to children.
The
solution is to end the prohibition that turns addicts
(and other users) into criminals, and destroy the
multi-billion black market that results from it.
Unfortunately, this will not happen while we have
political leaders who prefer to tell voters what
they think they want to hear, rather than demonstrate
the courage needed to admit that they have failed.
