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UK: Legalise drugs, urges senior Lib Dem
Matthew Tempest The Guardian
Monday 15 Aug 2005 The Liberal Democrat leader in Europe has reignited the party's debate on drug policy, with a call for the regulated legalisation of all hard drugs. Chris Davies, MEP for the North West region and leader of the party in Brussels, put himself at odds with the party leadership by calling for a rethink of prohibition in the name of harm reduction. In an article in the Brussels-based magazine The Sprout, he wrote: "Prohibition is taking us nowhere, and leaving the trade in the hands of criminal gangs. "A legalised but regulated market would put the emphasis on harm reduction and undermine the criminal element. Unfortunately most European governments are in the position of insisting the Emperor has got his clothes on." While the UK party has backed the government's reclassification of cannabis, and supports a policy of not charging drug addicts with a criminal offence for the possession rather than supply of class A drugs, it has stopped short of advocating full-scale legalisation. Today Mr Davies insisted his thinking was "different, but not in conflict" with party policy, and that he wanted to start a debate on the issue. That may not be a debate welcomed by the party leadership, accused by the Labour party and the Sun newspaper of being "soft on crime" during the general election campaign. Mr Davies' call follows the partial publication of a 2003 report by Lord Birt, Tony Blair's unpaid Downing St adviser, which concluded that despite the best efforts of the police and the judicial system, there was an "inexhaustible" supply of drug traffickers. Some contents of the report only became public this summer after a freedom of information request. The conclusions of the report were withheld, but the portions released appeared to back Mr Davies' contention, calling the criminal drug supply business "large, highly flexible and very adaptable" which had seen "consumption grow and prices reduce" despite decades of police intervention. It estimates seizure rates at a maximum of 25% of total production, and says that even if "supply-side interventions were more effective, it is not clear that the impact on the harms caused by serious drug users would be reduced." The cost of crimes committed by heroin and cocaine addicts to fund their habit is said to amount to UKP16bn per year in the UK alone. In his report Lord Birt suggests that this figure would actually increase if more traffickers were arrested and drug prices rose. Lord Birt concludes that government interventions against drug dealers amount to "a cost of business, rather than a substantive threat to the industry's viability". The MEP has a long track record in proposing reform of the drugs laws. He spoke in the famous debate at the 1995 Liberal Democrat conference where delegates voted - against the wishes of the then leader, Paddy Ashdown - for a royal commission to examine reclassifying cannabis. Mr Davies also supported the case of Colin Davies, jailed for opening a Dutch-style cannabis coffee shop in Stockport, which falls within the MEP's constituency. In his article, the MEP writes: "Taking a small percentage of the drugs off the market simply forces up the price, adding to the already vast profits made by the traffickers and providing a stronger financial incentive for others to get involved. It's a vicious circle. "Far from preventing the use of illegal drugs the policy of prohibition creates the profits which drive the growth of the trade. It leads to the corruption of our institutions and provides funds for terrorism. "These views used to be controversial but now that the prime minister's personal adviser says that existing policies are doomed to failure it is surely time for all responsible politicians to consider whether alternative strategies could do more to curb crime, reduce harm and save lives". "Taken in excessive quantities all drugs are dangerous and no one wants a free-for-all but many of the problems stem directly from the criminality involved. At present, drug users can never be entirely sure just what they are putting into their bodies." A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: "This is certainly not party policy."
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