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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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PUB LTE: Reform The Drug Laws 74 drug academic and related signatories The Independent Monday 18 Dec 2000 Pubdate: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 Source: Independent (UK) Author: 74 drug academic and related signatories Sir, Our regulatory framework concerning the use and misuse of illicit drugs is seriously flawed and requires review. The legislation should reflect accurately the harms to health associated with drug-taking. It does not do this at present, with the result that it is increasingly seen as an anachronism by young people and fails to provide proportionate and credible signals to the population about drug-related harms. Aspects of the law are widely seen as unenforceable by the police or as a distraction from more effective crime-reduction. This has produced "postcode policing", with the de facto decriminalisation of drug-taking in some areas - notably but not exclusively cannabis. Practitioners working with drug misusers are important partners in the Government's laudable efforts to reduce social exclusion. The Wintercomfort case and recent arrests of GPs providing services to drug users has produced a climate of anxiety among practitioners. This undermines their effectiveness. The recent judgement of the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh regarding "seized assets" indicates that current legislation breaches European human rights law. There are further areas of our law that may also conflict with rights, such as the right to privacy, that are now enshrined within British law. Although these are, as yet, untested in the courts such challenges can be foreseen and a responsible approach would be to anticipate these and recast our law. Our existing legislation serves us poorly in the pursuit of a humane, safe and effective national response to the undoubted harms associated with drug-taking. There have been dramatic social and legal changes since the introduction of the Misuse of Drugs Act almost 30 years ago. We believe that a Royal Commission is urgently needed to examine the broad range of issues concerned with the provision of a new and effective regulatory framework. 1. Dr Peter D Donnelly - President, Association of Directors of Public Health ( UK ) 2. Professor Cindy Fazey - Professor of International Drug Policy, University of Liverpool 3. Professor Michael Hough - Director, Criminal Policy Research Unit, South Bank University 4. Neil Hunt - Lecturer in Addictive Behaviours, Kent Institute of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Kent at Canterbury 5. Professor Hilary Klee - Director, Centre for Social Research on Health and Substance Abuse ( SRHSA ), The Manchester Metropolitan University 6. Neil M. Montgomery - MSc FRSA FRAI Consultant Anthropologist to the UK Medicinal Cannabis Project 7. Professor Gerry V Stimson - Centre for Research on Drugs and Health Behaviour, Imperial College, London; Chair, UK Harm Reduction Alliance 8. Professor Richard Velleman - Professor of Mental Health Research, University of Bath, and Director of Research & Development, Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust 9. Dr Tom Waller - Suffolk County Specialist in Substance Misuse and 65 other signatories ( unpublished but listed below ) 10. Dima Abdulrahim PhD - Social Scientist ( Substance Misuse ) 11. Jim Barnard - Primary Care Adviser ( Substance Misuse ) 12. Dr. Adrian Barton - Lecturer in Criminal Justice and Criminology, University of Glamorgan 13. Rhianon Bayliss MSc ( Econ ) - Criminology & Criminal Justice Teaching & Research Group, Cardiff University. 14. Dr Berry Beaumont - General Practitioner, London 15. Colin Bone - Prison Senior Healthcare Officer, Manchester 16. Dr Adrian Bonner - Senior Lecturer in Addictive Behaviours, Kent Institute of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Kent at Canterbury 17. Annabel Boys - Researcher, National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry 18. Gill Bradbury, RGN - Director of Services, Powys Drug & Alcohol Council 19. Elizabeth Brewin BSc RN - Dual Diagnosis Trainer, Section of Psychiatric Nursing, Health Services Research, Institute of Psychiatry 20. Julian Buchanan - Senior Lecturer, North East Wales Institute 21. Jane Calder - Substance Abuse Specialist 22. Kim Clarke - Research Co-ordinator, Addictions Division, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust 23. Professor Chris Cook - Head of the Division of Psychiatry, Professor of the Psychiatry of Alcohol Misuse and Consultant Psychiatrist, Kent Institute of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Kent at Canterbury 24. Peter Cooksey - Substance Misuse Worker, Powys Drug & Alcohol Council 25. Professor Tony Coxon - Dept of Sociology, and Health and Social Services Institute, University of Essex 26. Alex Copello - Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, The University of Birmingham and Northern Birmingham Mental Health Trust 27. Jon Derricott - Independent Writer and Trainer ( Substance Misuse ), Liverpool 28. Dr Chris Ford MBChB, MRCP, MRCGP, DROG - GP, Clinical Director of Brent Drug and Alcohol Service, Chair of HIV Working Party RCGP, Chair of Methadone Alliance 29. Jane Fountain PhD - Health Service Researcher in the Addictions, National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry 30. Rebecca Glover RMN - Forensic Psychiatry Service, Merseyside 31. Hermine Graham Clin Psy D - Clinical Psychologist, Head of COMPASS Programme, NBMHT, Honorary Research Fellow, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham 32. Ian Grant - Senior Research Officer, Drug Misuse Information Strategy Team, Edinburgh 33. Professor Graham J Hart - Associate Director, MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow 34. Lorraine Hewitt - Manager, The Stockwell Project, NHS Service for Drug Users 35. Matthew Hickman - Principal Research Fellow, Centre for Research on Drugs and Health Behaviour, Imperial College School of Medicine 36. Jon Holland - Stimulant Service, Druglink, Hammersmith & Fulham 37. Mark Holland - CPN Service Manager, Manchester Mental Health Partnership 38. Colleen Homan - Drug Training Officer, National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry 39. Louise Hope - Researcher, Addictive Behaviour Group, Kent Institute of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Kent at Canterbury 40. Dr Rhidian Hughes - Former Research Fellow, Department of Social Policy & Social Work, University of York 41. Annabel Kanabus - Chief Executive, AVERT Trust 42. Gemma Kothari - Researcher, National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry 43. Peter McDermott - Freelance Writer and Drugs Researcher 44. Mick McKeown - Principal Lecturer, Mental Health Nursing Research, University of Central Lancashire 45. Dr John Marsden - National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry 46. Alan Matthews - Independent Drugs Researcher & Trainer, Liverpool. 47. Lyn Matthews - Drugs Worker, Liverpool. 48. Margaret Melrose - Research Fellow, Department of Applied Social Studies, University of Luton 49. Luke Mitcheson D. Clin. Psych. - Clinical Psychologist ( Substance Misuse ) 50. Bill Nelles - The Methadone Alliance 51. Patrick O'Hare - Director, International Harm Reduction Association, Editor, International Journal of Drug Policy 52. Professor Jim Orford - School of Psychology, The University of Birmingham 53. Dr Ian Paylor - Department of Applied Social Science, Lancaster University 54. Peter Phillips - Research Fellow, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Sciences, Royal Free & University College Medical School, London 55. David Porteous - Lecturer in Applied Social Research, Dept. of Applied Social Studies, University of Luton 56. Robert Power PhD - Senior Lecturer in Medical Sociology, University College London 57. Andrew Preston - Independent Publisher, Exchange Publications 58. Bill Reading - Honorary Lecturer in Addictive Behaviour, Kent Institute of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Kent at Canterbury 59. Tim Rhodes PhD - Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Health, Imperial College School of Medicine, University of London. 60. Kay Roberts - Area Pharmacy Specialist - Drug Misuse, Greater Glasgow Primary Care NHS Trust 61. Penelope Rowe - Independent Social Psychologist ( Substance Misuse ) 62. Jenny Scott - Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice, University of Bath 63. Jim Sherval - Drug Policy and Research Co-ordinator, Centre for HIV/AIDS and Drugs Studies, Lothian Health 64. Mat Southwell - Dance Drugs Alliance 65. Dirk Stikker Dip. Psych. - Addictions Therapist, London 66. Mark Simpson - Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of Teesside 67. Garry Stillwell - Research Sociologist, National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry 68. Louise Sturgeon-Adams - Researcher, Department of Applied Social Sciences, University of Bradford 69. Monique Tomlinson - Deputy Director, Mainliners 70. Paul J.Turnbull - Deputy Director, Criminal Policy Research Unit, South Bank University 71. Sheila Urquhart - Mental Health Nurse, Rochdale NHS Trust 72. Emma Wincup PhD - School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent at Canterbury 73. Rowdy Yates - Scottish Drugs Training Project, Department of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling 74. Lee Young - Lecturer & Researcher ( Drugs ), University of Liverpool
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