The War on Drugs, the silver bullet to saving lives is to make drugs legal, tax the profits and put the money into rebuilding people and communities, 934 drug related deaths across Scotland in 2017, were was the political leadership to turn this around, it wasn’t there and people died

Dear All

Every now and then, the press run a story where someone such as an ex police man, ex president or other former official says that the war on drugs is “completely lost and unwinnable”. It is true, the war was lost right at the start but it did make a few people very rich indeed. When you consider the other ‘war’ fought and lost on alcohol, such as prohibition in 1920’s, it didn’t last long because quite clearly it was seen as a waste of time. The ‘war on drugs’ is a politicians war, to be seen to be doing something to ‘protect’ society from harm. The problem is that this gives them a purpose, a mission and something to talk about to justify themselves.

Why do people take drugs, well you could say it is the same reason they take alcohol, to get a ‘high’ or if you prefer get stoned or get wrecked. Selling drugs is a profitable business and always will be under the current setup.

So how do you win the war on drugs?

Make it legal.

You might say is that it, well simply put, yes, make it legal and tax it, take the tax money and plough it into health, into infrastructure and rebuild society and people. If you look at Miami, Florida, this is a place that was built on drug money; dealers bought condos and invested in property.

Imagine the number of social houses and flats that could be built by the tax from drugs?

Jim Duffy, a retired Strathclyde Police officer who now works for Law Enforcement Action Partnership UK, told MPs at Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee that the Misuse Of Drugs Act had been an “out and out failure” and said that a radical rethink is needed.

People love the word ‘radical’ in politics, but making drugs legal isn’t radical, it is simply a progression towards a more enlighten approach. Imagine the time saved by the police and courts being cluttered up effectively chasing something that by a simple act of parliament can be made legal.

People that want to take drugs will do so regardless if they are legal or not, just as there is a ban on tobacco advertising, the same could be done with drugs. We already have legislation in place for people who drive and take drugs, but we could go further, people in certain professions could like cyclists or athletes be randomly tested. In this case, I think doctors, dentists and other similar professionals where judgment could be impaired should be used as a safeguard.  

The biggest obstacle to winning the war on drugs is politicians, no governing party tends to want to be seen as ‘weak’ and opposition parties due to the nature of politics see this as a lever to attack their oppenents.

Hence nothing is done!

What Duffy is suggesting is that by moving towards decriminalisation of drug use, such as countries like Portugal which did so in 2001, control can be taken away from criminals.

Crime is a business to these people, and cash flow is important, by bankrupting the market by making it legal, the cost to risk ratio becomes a failed business model. The current Misuse Of Drugs Act has been in place for 48 years and has been an out-and-out failure. But the economic cost to the State is the point worth noting in terms of time, and in terms of revenue which could have been collected. Imagine 48 years of legalised and taxed drug money flowing into the public purse?

This would be a sea of money!

Duffy added:

“Lives are being saved all over the world, in Canada and America where they’ve legalised it in certain states, there aren’t the same number of fatalities. When you see what they’ve done in Portugal and what they’ve done in Switzerland, there aren’t the same number of people dying.”

This type of evidence doesn’t stir Scottish politicians because we have a morally bankrupt and un-ambitious political class who have a herd mentality and are risk averse. So, they sit there taking evidence and do nothing, not showing leadership but occasionally doing a piece meal job.

Much like someone putting a toe into a hot bath to test the water but this has been going on for 48 years and more.

Recently a six-month drugs operation across Edinburgh resulted in 95 arrests and the seizure of £1.2m of narcotics. Most of the people arrested will be the local dealers probably selling out of their dingy wee flat making a couple of quid which they blow on rubbish. Maybe a 65” TV, designer trainers, some gold rings, watches, clothes, some splashing out on a car with alloy wheels and a big exhaust which makes a racket.

One of the ‘toes in the water’ ideas is that of drugs consumption rooms, as I said above, the piecemeal approach. Martin Powell, from the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, said that allowing for the creation of drugs consumption rooms, such as that proposed in Glasgow, could allow Scotland to explore whether deregulation could be beneficial. There were 934 drug related deaths across Scotland; this is the highest since records began in 1996. Under current UK legislation, it would not be legally possibly for such a facility to be set up, with the UK government required to give approval.

Of course given we have a hostile SNP Government unable to work quietly and jointly with the UK government, and that probably includes the back channels, we might not even see the idea of drugs consumption rooms piloted. Powell put the idea this way:

“So, no big bangs, no sudden shocks to the system – a very careful, cautious, evidence-based approach.”

But the idea needs to be expanded, yes, a drugs consumption room is a help, but a facility that just does that is doomed to fail, there needs to be more to it, it has to be a hub where chaotic people can get help in other aspects of their lives. A place that doesn’t come with a stigma built in with the bricks. A place of help and also recovery, the amount of people who I see in wheelchairs minus a leg after drug abuse is shocking in Glasgow.

Finally, Duffy said:

“What we’re currently doing, by prohibiting it, does not work. So we need to change what we are doing, we need to take it away from the criminals and bring it back under control.”

Make it legal, tax it and plough the money back into services.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University