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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Why this Government won't legalise drugs
The Times, UK Friday 29 Aug 1997 Why this Government won't legalise drugs It is always difficult for any discussion on drugs to be conducted in a calm and rational way and when it is precipitated by the tragic shooting of a five-year-old boy it is not surprising that some of the analysis is somewhat blurred. As chair of the Cabinet sub-committee on drugs misuse, I welcome any debate about how society should deal with the problems of drugs, but I am concerned at some of the misconceptions that have entered into parts of the debate in recent days. For example, some drug users take drugs in what they believe is a controlled recreational way, which leads some people to say: "You won't beat drugs, so learn to live with them. "Too many parents of youngsters for whom this approach has gone wrong can testify to the dangers of turning a blind eye. The recent debate has focused on two related issues. First, is the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act still a reasonable basis for our approach? And second: should we be tough on or sympathetic to those who use drugs? The fact that the Police Foundation has established a new inquiry has raised the issue of reviewing the 1971 Act. However, there is already an independent and highly respected expert body - the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs - which regularly reviews drugs laws and reports to government on key issues. At no stage has it ever recommended wholesale revision of the 1971 Act. I firmly believe we already know enough to start to contain and then reduce the damage caused by drugs. There is good reason for this. The logic of the legalisation argument is flawed. The increase in drug misuse over the past 25 years does not justify abandoning any law which tries to control drugs. International conventions underpin the drugs controlled by the 1971 Act - reflecting worldwide concerns about drug misuse. The Government is not on a moral ego trip in controlling drugs such as heroin and cocaine: most people are well aware of their extremely dangerous physical and psychological effects. Those who argue that cannabis and Ecstasy are no more dangerous than alcohol or tobacco are discounting the growing evidence about their short and ong-term health risks. And the consequences of drug misuse do not anyway just affect the person who chooses to take them. Whatever the legal framework, the demand for drugs would still fuel demand for money to generate substantial crime. It is not good enough to say "the drugs war is lost". Tough enforcement does have an impact on the availability of drugs and the demand among young people. But being tough in enforcing the law is by no means incompatible with supporting addicts or educating our young people to make informed judgments. Let us be clear about what is going on in the real world. "Half of the population under the age of 30 has used or is using illegal drugs," wrote Simon Jenkins on this page two days ago. Correct. But this disingenuously implies regular bouts of drug-taking among vast numbers of young people. Not so. Next month's British Crime Survey results for 1996 - the most authoritative assessment of drug trends - highlight the fact that, while half of our young people do not and will not take illegal drugs, most of those who have will only ever try them once or twice. So let us not patronise young people, and assume that they are all "mad for it". Many young people are already quite clear that their lives are diminished, not enriched, by the "buzz" of mind-altering substances. There is increasing evidence that local initiatives - involving parents, communities, agencies and young people themselves - provide the information and skills that youngsters need to take sensible decisions. For those who do get caught in the drugs trap, we need to ensure that the right counselling and treatment services are available. That is precisely why my Home Office colleagues - ludicrously stereotyped by Simon Jenkins - are pushing forward to give courts the power to make a drug testing and treatment order, designed to get drug offenders out of the crime and dependency cycle. It is desperately important that while we are tough on enforcement, we are also sympathetic and positive in the help we give to those who want to escape the drugs trap. This Government has already taken measures to develop local Drug Action Teams across the country, to reverse threatened cuts to 300 frontline Customs staff and to attack root causes of long-term drug misuse - particularly unemployment and deprivation - not least through the Welfare to Work initiative. But more is clearly needed. That is why the Prime Minister will soon be appointing a Drug Tsar - the UK Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator - who will report directly to him. Working across Government and with agencies and communities, this key figure will review what is already in place and swiftly put forward a new strategy that maximises all our resources and energies. Look ahead ten years. Any step along the legalisation route and we can be sure that both demand for and use of drugs would massively increase - with no let-up in organised crime - along with the creation of a dulled, unhealthy, selfish society, desperate for the"buzz" This would be a deeply worrying prospect. I see the future somewhat differently. In ten years' time illegal drugs will not have disappeared. But young people and their parents will be better informed, treatment will be there for those who need it and dealers will have a dwindling market. But this will come about only if we continue to be tough on enforcement against drugs and provide the opportunities to give young people more hope for the future. The author is Leader of the House of Commons.
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