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August 23, 2008
THE POINTLESSNESS OF CURRENT ANTI-DRUGS POLICY
Julian Critchley, former civil servant who ran the Cabinet's anti-drugs unit, has described government anti-drugs policy as pointless.
"I joined the unit more or less agnostic on drugs policy, being personally opposed to drug use, but open-minded about the best way to deal with the problem," he wrote on the blog. "I was certainly not inclined to decriminalise. However, during my time in the unit, as I saw more and more evidence of 'what works', to quote New Labour's mantra of the time, it became apparent to me that ... enforcement and supply-side interventions were largely pointless. They have no significant, lasting impact on the availability, affordability or use of drugs."
He is reported as calling for decriminalisation of drugs and described the current 'tough on drugs' policy as 'pointless.'
'Studies showed the market was already almost saturated with drugs, he said, and anyone who wished to purchase the drug of their choice could already do so.'
The arguments in favour of decriminalisation seem very clear:
1. A large drop in crime with drugs available freely on prescription
2. Better control of addiction
3. Better health for drug users
4. A reduction in drug-related prostitution
5. Better employability for drug users.
“I recall a conversation I had with a Number 10 policy advisor about a series of announcements in which we were to emphasise the shift of resources to treatment and highlight successes in prevention and education. She asked me whether we couldn't arrange for "a drugs bust in Brighton" at the same time, or "a boat speeding down the Thames to catch smugglers". For that advisor, what worked mattered considerably less than what would play well in the right-wing press. The tragedy of our drugs policy is that it is dictated by tabloid irrationality, and not by evidence.”
Posted by Hampshire at August 23, 2008 11:58 AM