Dear All
The ‘War on Drugs’ is a battle that never can be won; it is also a phoney war which politicians have kept going because they see it as a route to election or re-election.
As such the debate is limited to ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ mentality.
At this point, I should say that drugs are illegal and can kill you.
This is used a lot by the anti legalisation brigade.
So can tobacco and alcohol however both are legal.
The problem has always been tackled from the outside by politicians when the solution staring everyone in the face is legalisation.
Drugs should be legalised, many global leaders recognise this including former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.
The Global Commission on Drug Policy, whose members include former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan and Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson, warns that the war on drugs has failed and a major policy shift is needed.
This is something which I have been campaigning on for some time on this blog.
To ‘win’ the war on drugs, you have to bankrupt the market and take it away from criminals, in order to do that; you have to make it legal.
In making drugs legal, a vast reservoir of cash can be obtained by governments which could be used to benefit society in many ways.
Sir Richard, co-founder of a group of global leaders called The Elders, said:
“The war on drugs has failed to cut drug usage,’ adding it has filled our jails, cost millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money, fuelled organised crime and caused thousands of deaths”.
Legalisation can solve many problems, in particular cutting the flow of cash to criminals who use it to fund other activity such as human trafficking and illegal arms buying.
The report by The Global Commission on Drug Policy says countries that have decriminalisation of drugs, such as Portugal in 2001, have seen problematic drug use and drug-related deaths fall.
If, it can work in Portugal, it can work in Scotland, however, decriminalisation isn’t enough, and governments must ensure that the cash generated by drugs can find its way into its coffers to fund services.
The commission is calling on UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon to help create ‘a truly coordinated and coherent global drug strategy.
They realise the need to stifle drug supply and fight organised crime and at the same time, the need to provide health services, social care and economic development to affected individuals and communities’.
Danny Kushlick, of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, said:
“This report is a watershed moment that puts legal regulation of drugs on to the mainstream political agenda worldwide.”
The Home Office said last night it will ignore the report.
“We have no intention of liberalising our drugs laws. Drugs are illegal because they are harmful – they destroy lives”.
Why isn’t the UK Government banning alcohol and tobacco, they are equally harmful and cost the NHS millions to treat victims.
It is because there is no political will; the politics of fear and personal self interest rule, because of this, communities suffer.
We really do need a better class of politician in this country, people who aren’t afraid of losing their seats.
The war on drugs is a failure and that failure costs billions of pounds each year.
It’s time to legalise drugs.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
1 comment:
not working because their are to many people on the drugs dealers pay role get somone who we know that cant be bought and we might get somwhere and also bigger sentance if they are caught
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