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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Union says state should supply users to stop drugs trade
Ananova Thursday 18 Oct 2001 Probation officers are calling for all hard drugs to be decriminalised and supplied to users under a regulated system to undermine drug traffickers. Jonathan Ledger, chairman of family court and probation officers' union Napo, told the union's annual meeting in north Wales, that "the social and economic cost of the drug trade is totally unacceptable". If distribution of drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine was controlled by an effective, state-run system, it would eliminate the lucrative criminal market, he claims. "Napo has long supported decriminalisation for the possession of cannabis. "Surely the arguments are now compelling enough to extend this to all Class A drugs," said Mr Ledger. "An independent audit of the Government's drugs strategy must be a priority." Drug use costs £2.5 billion in stolen goods and insurance claims each year, he said, and the 200,000 problem drug users in England and Wales commit half of all property crime. "It is essential that the Government begins to approach drug use from the perspective of health and treatment rather than criminal justice and punishment," added Mr Ledger. The union's new policy comes after a noticeable shift in public attitudes to drugs, particularly cannabis.
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