Pubdate: Fri, 09 Mar 2007
Source: Mirror, The (UK)
Copyright: 2007 The Mirror
Contact:  http://www.mirror.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1161
Author: Bob Roberts, Deputy Political Editor
Note: See The RSA Commission on Illegal Drugs, Communities and Public 
Policy website http://www.rsadrugscommission.org and the 335 page 
report as a .pdf file at http://www.rsa.org.uk/acrobat/rsa_drugs_report.pdf
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

WAR ON DRUGS POURING MONEY DOWN DRAIN

TONY Blair's war on drugs is a waste of money and effort that does
more harm than good, says a high-powered study.

The RSA Commission insists booze and fags should be included in a new
law which must focus on the harm all intoxicants do - legal or illegal
- - rather than the crimes being committed.

It claims the Government is pouring cash down the drain trying to stop
drugs flooding into Britain and says the money could pay for better
treatment for addicts.

The report adds: "It is not possible to halt the importation and sale
of drugs in this country.

"Large amounts of money are wasted in attempting to achieve the
impossible. Drugs policy should, like that on alcohol and tobacco,
seek to regulate use and prevent harm rather than prohibit use.

"Policy should be measured not in terms of the amount of dealers
imprisoned, but in the amount of harm reduced."

The RSA group, headed by ex-No 10 aide Matthew Taylor, said current
laws with harsh jail terms for possession were "driven by moral
panic". The lead role in drugs policy should be taken from the Home
Office and handed to local authorities.

Charity DrugScope said: "There's too great an emphasis on drugs being
a problem solely associated with crime."

But former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith branded the paper "worryingly
complacent" because it did not "survey the views of drug addicts".

The Campaigner: Time to End Rule of the Gangsters

AS the RSA drugs report clearly shows, it is the prohibition of drugs
- - like that with alcohol in the US in the 1920s - that has spawned
many of the problems related to drug use and supply.

They include the multi-billion pound market gifted to organised
criminals and the UKP16billion crime costs resulting from making heroin
and cocaine illegal.

In 2002 the Home Affairs Select Committee enquiry into UK drug policy
called on the Government to start a discussion about "alternative ways
- - including legalisation and regulation - to tackle the global drugs
dilemma".

Hasn't the time now come to hold a public debate on whether our
current drug prohibition is working any better than the alcohol
prohibition of Al Capone's day?

Aren't we now adult enough to discuss whether a legally regulated drug
trade would work better than our gangster-run market? We think we are.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake