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| Legalise Heroin, Says Former Police Chief |
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Posted by FoM on November 06, 2001 at 20:43:28 PT By Michael White, Political Editor Source: Guardian Unlimited 
A former chief constable yesterday led fresh calls for the legalisation of heroin and other controlled drugs as the only realistic means of reversing a rising tide of "illness, death and crime" among users. As drug reform campaigners warned MPs that decriminalisation would only tackle the worst excesses of a crime-dominated drug culture, Francis Wilkinson, former chief constable of Gwent, declared that regulation of the drugs market in Britain would be "the most effective crime prevention measure any government could take". Fearing a successful court action under the Human Rights Act, the home secretary, David Blunkett, last month announced that cannabis users would no longer be arrested or prosecuted for possession of small quantities. With the drugs debate suddenly in ferment again after years of all-party hostility to reform, Mr Wilkinson's call was echoed in evidence yesterday to the Commons cross-party home affairs select committee which is investigating options for change. They were armed with a Home Office paper warning them of the weaknesses of the pro-reformers' arguments. MPs heard from the Legalise Cannabis Alliance and other campaigners, as well as from Nick Davies, the journalist and broadcaster, whose Guardian series on drugs in Britain last June was sent to committee members. In a pamphlet for the Liberal Democrat thinktank, the Centre for Reform, Mr Wilkinson, said that Britain has the most rampant heroin problem in the western world - 270,000 users compared with only 1,000 registered addicts in 1971 - and more heroin-related crime than the US. "The only way to reduce the problem... is to supply heroin officially to users in a way that will minimise the leakage of those supplies," said Mr Wilkinson. He urges a two-year pilot scheme, funded and monitored by the Home Office, in which heroin in supplied by a unit that provides medical assistance, counselling and supervision. At Westminster MPs heard even more radical advocacy from witnesses who argued that heroin in itself is not harmful and that it is the illegal production and distribution of Class A drugs of dubious quality which both pushes up prices - and crime - and endangers lives. "The issue is the harm, not the supply," said Roger Warren Evans, a barrister, and co-author of the pro-legalisation Angel Declaration. Nick Davies told MPs that he was "extremely grateful" that the ex-drugs tsar Keith Halliwell's strategy had failed. "If he had succeeded, there would be more illness, more death and more crime," as shortages pushed up prices and reduced the quality of banned drugs. "No drug becomes safer when you hand its production and distribution to criminals," said Mr Davies, who stressed that he did not want people to use heroin but did want them to have informed choices. The 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act had created a form of "pyramid selling" whereby users sold drugs to their friends and smoked the profits, thus spreading it rapidly through towns and villages as well as big cities. In contrast to witnesses who spoke of the hopelessness of heroin addicts, often victims of poverty abuse and unresolved bereavement, Conor McNicholas, editor of Muzik Magazine, said ecstasy and its successors among designer drugs are being used by "very bright, very able, young consumers" in the dance culture of contemporary Britain. They know what they want when clubbing and how to offset the side effects - "they treat their bodies as chemistry sets," said Mr McNicholas. "They are trying to establish their identity, a personality, through brands, clothes, records, posters on their wall. Part of that is the drugs they are taking," he said. Note: MPs listen to reformers' arguments for healthier and safer system. Related Article: A Necessary Prescription Time To Face Realities Over Heroin Use Leader Slowly we are moving towards a more rational drugs policy. The home secretary has already signalled the downgrading of cannabis to a minor, non-arrestable offence, and the approval of its use for medical purposes draws closer. More importantly, he is now ready to encourage a return to prescribing heroin, moving the addiction from a criminal offence to medical help. This is a major step, as a report released yesterday by the Centre for Reform reinforces. Written by Francis Wilkinson, a former chief constable, the report suggests the UK has "the most rampant heroin problem in the western world". The number using the drug is doubling every four years. Mr Wilkinson suggests the total number now is 270,000 - a more conservative figure than some estimates - but still 540 times as large as the 500 registered in the benign prescribing days of the 1960s. Like our investigatory reporter Nick Davies in a series earlier this year, Mr Wilkinson notes that the black market creates many of the problems generated by heroin: the shared needles; the contamination which occurs when illegal dealers cut the drug with other substances (sugar, starch, powders, sand) to increase their profits; not to mention the criminal activities needed to fund a £16,000-a-year habit. He rightly points to European practice: "the only way to reduce the problem - it will not eliminate it - is to supply heroin to users." Ironically, Europe began adopting the old British approach of prescription as the UK finally abandoned it in the 1990s. The new leaders are Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany, which have all adopted prescription, while three more states have official injection rooms. The home affairs select committee is maintaining momentum by reviewing the effectiveness of current policy. Even the deposed drugs tsar has conceded the old goal - a 50% reduction in hard drug use by 2008 - was unrealistic and should be dropped. Not before time. Source: Guardian Unlimited, The (UK) Related Articles: America Has Much To Learn from Britain's Law Campaigners Applaud Cannabis Reform Make Heroin Legal - Guardian Unlimited Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #2 posted by Sudaca on November 07, 2001 at 10:27:46 PT |
| how come the UK can have rational discussions that are absolutely taboo in the states? How come the partners of the US Terror War aren't hit with the same rhetoric equalizing social criticism to antipatriotism? When did the limeys become more illuminated, how can THEY can get on with their lives and with a rational discussion that has been delayed for years in the western world?
It's unfair! Obviously the 20 years step-back since Sept11 is an American thing alone.
I suspect it's because the politicians in this country are so damn old that getting back to the 80's looks sage correction in mental attitude (it was only yesterday after all) . They've been overwhelmed by the strong current of change in the last decade and given the opportunity they are reasserting their power into the happy days.. When republicans were men, and dinosaurs roamed the plains... [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #1 posted by Jose Melendez on November 07, 2001 at 06:46:44 PT:
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| see:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20011106/aponline215233_000.htm [ Post Comment ] |
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