Experts Urge Reversal of Policies That Have Driven Violence and Deaths

An international commission of medical experts is calling for global drug decriminalisation, arguing that current policies lead to violence, deaths and the spread of disease, harming health and human rights.

The commission, set up by the Lancet medical journal and Johns Hopkins University in the US, finds that tough drugs laws have caused misery, failed to curb drug use, fuelled violent crime and spread the epidemics of HIV and hepatitis C through unsafe injecting. Publishing its report on the eve of a special session of the United Nations devoted to illegal narcotics, it urges a reversal of the repressive policies imposed by most governments.

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Global Report Urges UN to Back Decriminalisation

Commission Backs Move to Legal, Regulated Markets

Medical experts are calling for global drug decriminalisation, arguing that current policies are leading to violence, death and the spread of disease, harming both health and human rights.

The experts, working as an international commission, set up by the Lancet medical journal and Johns Hopkins University in the US, find that tough drug laws have caused misery, failed to curb drug use, fuelled violent crime, and helped spread HIV and hepatitis C epidemics perpetuated by unsafe injecting.

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A BATTLE to legalise cannabis is set to start in Parliament as Liberal Democrat MPs propose a major shake-up of the UK's drug laws.

Norman Lamb wants the drug to be legalised in order to stop money going into the pockets of criminals and to prevent the lives of people who are prosecuted for possession of the substance from being "blighted" by a criminal conviction.

The former LibDem health minister said: "A regulated market in the UK will take profits out of the hands of organised crime and reduce both health and social harms.

"I've argued for a long time that our laws on drugs are outdated, harmful and well overdue for reform."

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Samples Collected at Nightclubs Can Provide Data on Which Substances Are Being Used and Where

For decades, the war on drugs has been fought on fronts from the jungles of Latin America to the classroom. But now the struggle to understand the use of illegal substances has reached a new low - the nation's urinals.

Scientists in charge of tracking drug use across Europe, in particular the booming use of so-called "legal highs", have put forward proposals to use samples from urinals in locations such as nightclubs and music festivals to try to work out which illicit substances are being consumed.

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Firm Says Drug Reduced Seizures in Children With Dravet Syndrome by 39 Per Cent

From page 2 A British company that has been working for 18 years to find medicinal uses for marijuana has had a major breakthrough in the treatment of childhood epilepsy.

Yesterday GW Pharmaceuticals, which has a licence from the Home Office to grow cannabis, announced final-stage tests on 120 children with Dravet syndrome (a type of epilepsy) had successfully reduced seizures by 39 per cent. The phase 3 trial of the drug known as Epidiolex has been extremely closely watched in the medical community, due to the current absence of a cure for the painful and dangerous condition. Currently, Dravet sufferers have to take a cocktail of medicines but still suffer an average of 13 seizures a month.

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SIR - It is disturbing to hear that delegates at the Liberal Democrat conference have called for the legalisation of cannabis (report, telegraph.co.uk, March 12).

This decision indicates a lack of research on their part as well as an ignorance of the connection between cannabis and mental health disorders. Those working in this field are aware that cannabis can trigger the onset of schizophrenia, particularly in the young. It can also seriously reduce the efficacy of the medication that is prescribed to alleviate the distressing symptoms of this condition.

David Orfeur

London N21

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A petition launched by the former Solidarity MSP seeks to legalise what he calls the "non-criminal action" of using cannabis, instead directing the money raised from taxing the drug into drug treatment programmes.

Only 98 people have so far signed his petition on change. org since Saturday.

The petition, called "Legalise, regulate, license and tax cannabis. Drop the stupid 'war' on drugs. Wise up", is directed at the UK Parliament.

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Lib Dems' Conference Decision Is a Totemic Policy That Would Also Raise Ukp 1bn Tax, Says MP Norman Lamb

The Liberal Democrats have become the first major party to support the legalisation of cannabis, a move, they argue, that will reduce drug- related crime and raise around UKP 1bn in tax revenue.

The policy was overwhelmingly approved by delegates at the Lib Dems' spring conference in York yesterday.

It follows a review of soft drugs set up by the former health minister Norman Lamb, one of the eight MPs who survived the party's general- election rout last year, and chaired by Steve Rolles, a senior policy analyst from the Transform Drug Policy Foundation.

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LIB DEMS yesterday overwhelmingly backed the legalisation of cannabis.

Just a handful of members at their spring conference in York opposed the motion.

Heal th spokesman Norman Lamb said: "It's long overdue that we call time on the most discredited, most stupid, most dangerous so-called 'war on drugs'.

"I want this party to lead the way to a new approach, based on evidence, which is liberal, and which protects public health."

Selling the drug in regulated shops and clubs could raise UKP1billion tax, he said.

In a speech today Lib Dem leader Tim Farron vows to "fight this Government's short-sighted cuts to school budgets" in a speech.

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THE Liberal Democrats yesterday become the first mainstream political party to call for the legalisation of cannabis.

In a landmark vote at the party's spring conference, delegates voted in favour of licensing shops to sell cannabis in plain packaging and with health warnings to adults in Britain.

Householders would also be allowed to cultivate marijuana and harvest the drug for personal consumption. said the MP had offered advice at last Thursday's meeting but was not planning a formal, paid relationship with the Seattle-based Privateer Holdings.

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Last week, I had dinner with an American actor who was enthusiastically extolling the benefits of state-controlled cannabis. He was describing how, in places where it is legal, customers can go into a shop and choose a product to give exactly the effect they want to achieve, like with wine or fine Scotch. His personal aim was "to feel mellow - and have great sex".

If legalising dope would make everyone in Britain just one per cent more smiley and less hostile, can you think of a better reason to bite the bullet and change the law? We are definitely going through fearful times, guaranteed to increase our levels of anxiety. Turn on the telly or radio and politicians on all sides compete to ramp up the doom-laden consequences of leaving (or staying in) Europe. Depending on who you listen to, we'll either be paying more for food (or less), be out of work (or have more opportunities), and be over-run with immigrants no wonder most people I meet can't make up their minds which way they want to vote.

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LIBERAL Democrats say there's a case for setting up cannabis shops allowing people to buy the drug in their local high street.

But how many people in the West Midlands take cannabis or other drugs - - and is drug use rising or falling?

Here's what the official figures tell us about drug use in the West Midlands.

In the West Midlands, 6.9 per cent of the population aged 16 to 59 say they have taken cannabis at least once last year. That's about one in 15 people. It's about the same as the national average.

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It is impossible to know how many people have been deterred from using cannabis out of deference to the law. Decades of prohibition have not prevented the drug from establishing itself as a part of the repertoire of psychoactive substances that British people use for leisure and, for a few, non-recreational medication. Despite the theoretical threat of prosecution, cannabis use has become sufficiently uncontroversial for stories about David Cameron dabbling in his youth to have surfaced without measurable impact on his standing as prime minister.

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LEGALISING THE sale of cannabis could raise UKP1bn a year in tax and help minimise health risks, according to a report.

The study, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats and conducted by a panel of scientists, academics and police chiefs, suggests that the drug should be available in specialist shops to over-18s.

The party is expected to debate the issue at its spring conference in York this weekend.

Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "Every year billions of pounds are put into the pockets of organised criminals selling cannabis and vast amounts of police time and resources are wasted going after those using the drug."

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Legalising the sale of cannabis in specialist shops would generate UKP1bn a year in tax revenue and reduce the harm done to users and society, according to the most detailed plans ever drawn up for the liberalisation of UK drug laws.

The study, which was carried out by a panel of experts including scientists, academics and police chiefs, calls for the UK to follow the lead of some US states and allow the sale of cannabis to over-18s in licensed retail stores.

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Cannabis should be sold over the counter in plain packaging in specialist, licensed shops to over-18s only, according to an expert panel set up by the Liberal Democrats to examine what a regulated cannabis market in Britain should look like.

They suggest cannabis should be sold in three strengths - lower, medium and higher - in prescription medicine-style resealable childproof containers with a health warning.

The panel also recommends that smallscale licensed "cannabis social clubs" should be set up, and that home-grown cultivation of up to four plants for personal use should be allowed.

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PEOPLE caught with drugs for personal use would be referred for health treatment rather than sent to jail under proposals unveiled by the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

Leader Willie Rennie said Scotland's current drugs policy "is costly and fails to work for everyone".

Drugs misuse costs society UKP3.5 billion a year amounting to around UKP900 for every adult in Scotland, he said.

The LibDems will call for drug users to be "referred for treatment, education or civil penalties, ending the use of i mpr i s on ment " , in a ma n i fe sto p ol ic y put forward for discussion at its Scottish spring conference this week.

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Under Scottish LibDem proposals, possession of small amounts of heroin for personal use would mean a police warning rather than a court appearance

HEROIN, cocaine and ecstasy users should face police warnings instead of prison if found with small amounts of drugs for personal use, the Scottish LibDems will argue this week. The party will use its spring conference to advocate decriminalising drug use - as opposed to drug dealing in a fundamental reform of how addiction is dealt with by the authorities.

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IT'S time for Scotland to change its approach to drug abuse. The current policy towards it is costly and fails to work for everyone. Drugs misuse costs society UKP3.5 billion a year. That's around UKP900 for every adult in Scotland. We're not winning the so-called war on drugs and we have to consider the alternatives.

This week, at the Scottish Liberal Democrats' Spring Conference, our manifesto commitment to promote a change in drug policy will be set out. We are proposing a fundamental reform of the way drug users are prosecuted and sentenced. Not drug dealers. We think it is right that they can face up to life in prison. But we do not believe vulnerable people struggling with addiction should be imprisoned simply for possessing drugs for personal use.

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Parliament Should Allow Doctors to Prescribe Cannabis

Those responsible for the Government's drug policies could not be accused of any exaggerated deference to the world of scientific papers, double-blind trials and laboratory-bound research. The Psychoactive Substances Bill - which outlaws anything likely to alter a user's mindset - was described in the New Scientist as one of the "stupidest, most dangerous and unscientific pieces of legislation ever conceived". It demonstrates Parliament moving in the opposite direction to the tonnage of evidence showing that draconian approaches to recreational drug use have failed.

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