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NZ: Make all drugs legal - ex-cop
David Eames Manawatu Evening Standard
Wednesday 21 Apr 2004 A former Scotland Yard drugs boss is calling for all drugs, from marijuana and methamphetamines to cocaine and opiates, to be legalised. The retired detective chief superintendent, Eddie Ellison, was guest speaker at a Makino Rotary Club meeting last night. Speaking to the Manawatu Standard earlier in the day, he said he believes the current prohibition on drugs is costing a fortune and helping no one but criminals involved with drug dealing. Mr Ellison said in Britain, police are moving away from expensive prosecutions of small-time marijuana users, instead issuing verbal warnings to offenders. In Britain, it costs about $25,000 to arrest and prosecute a person on a minor drugs charge in the lower courts. The financial penalty to the offender is about $100. "Prohibition isn't achieving anything. It's making it worse." Heroin and other hard-drug users could be given subsidised doses of the drug, which would stop forcing them to commit crimes to finance their habits. Once the users had a guaranteed low-cost supply of the drug, they could get on with their lives, he said. Mr Ellison, who left for Melbourne today, was visiting New Zealand with the American-based Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (Leap) group, which campaigns for drug regulation over prohibition. Prior to his involvment with Leap, Mr Ellison spent most of his 30 years on the force with the criminal investigation department of London Metropolitan Police. He says a British heroin addict must steal about $5000 worth of goods a day to finance a $500-a-day habit. The Government could supply them the heroin they need for about $1.25. Though there would be extra costs in supplying staff to dispense the drugs, "the heroin hardly affects the equation at all". If the users decided finally to wean themselves off drugs, the Government would be there to help out, he said. Prohibition costs the British Government about $25 billion in drug enforcement, including police, court and scientific-testing time. He said New Zealand is ideally situated to consider legalisation of these drugs, as it is away from the routes along which hard drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, are distributed. Mr Ellison, who admitted to being astonished by the lack of discussion about drug legalisation in this country, met with government officials in Wellington early in his trip. "There's no doubt there's a discussion going on about policies, but that's not being held in the public arena."
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