Meth is not good -- and a community in Montana, US, used a young woman who looked oddly like Elsa from Frozen to remind its citizens. An anti-drug campaign called the Montana Meth Project (MMP) erected some billboards and signs calling on people to "just let it go" -- "it" being meth, an illegal substance that causes misery around the world. On the boards was a blonde girl, visibly blighted by drug abuse, with a tired face and jumbled hair. She was shackled, too, apparently caught for possession by police. [continues 216 words]
Experts: Jail Bad for Addicts PERSONAL possession and use of all drugs should be decriminalised, public health experts will say today. Users need help not punishment, they say, and 56% of adults in a poll of 2,000 agree. Drug use has fallen in the last decade but related harm including death continues to rise. Jailing users makes things worse, says a report by the Faculty of Public Health and Royal Society for Public Health. But both groups insist dealers must still be prosecuted. Shirley Cramer, of RSPH, said: "The war on drugs has failed... It's time for a new approach, where we recognise those who misuse drugs are in need of treatment not criminals in need of punishment." The report was "very much welcomed" by Parliament's Drug Policy Reform group. Prof David Nutt, of Imperial College London, backed it and Prof Peter Anderson, of Newcastle University, said: "It's the way to go." The Home Office said we must "support people dependent on drugs" and also "tackle organised crime behind the drugs trade". [end]
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. [end]
My blood boils when I hear loony liberal politicians (I'm thinking Nick Clegg) and middle class do-gooders telling us that ALL drugs should be legalised. That heroin, crack cocaine and LSD should all be freely available - even to teenagers. Their argument is that if the State was in charge of the drugs industry instead of criminal gangs then the drugs wouldn't be toxic and fewer people would die. And there'll be more of that silly talk in the coming weeks thanks to a Home Office report trumpeted by Clegg - which claims punitive laws have no effect on curbing drug use. [continues 604 words]
CANCER sufferers will be prescribed a spray containing cannabis as a new form of pain relief treatment. Experts say the medication -- derived from marijuana plants -- works by numbing the muscles. It will be given to terminally-ill hospital patients as part of a ground-breaking trial. But Sativex does not get users high. Research nurse Sam Jole said: "Patients using the spray do not experience the euphoria associated with illegal recreational use of cannabis. "It has passed strict tests for quality, safety and efficacy and doctors already prescribe it to other patients." [continues 139 words]
THE worldwide illegal drugs trade is now worth an - estimated UKP200billion - bigger than the entire output of Denmark and Portugal. But experts said clamping down on drugs like cocaine and cannabis makes crooks richer as it raises the price. They looked at hundreds of studies and found that, in most cases, crackdowns on illegal drugs were - also associated with more violence. Co-author Dr Evan Wood, of the International Centre for Science in Drugs Policy, Vancouver, said: "Prohibition drives up the value of banned substances astronomically." [continues 62 words]
Congratulations to Channel 4 for screening the most sensible film about drugs I've ever seen. Whether or not you believe drugs should be de-criminalised, it's blindingly obvious that if the intention of Britain's drug policies is to stop people using them, then they're absolutely not working. Angus MacQueen's calm, un-hysterical film asks the question we must all be wondering: what did the UKP1.5 billion we spent last year on fighting drugs actually achieve? [continues 196 words]
The Government was facing a revolt last night over the sacking of its drugs adviser. Two members of the drugs advisory council have already quit in protest after chairman Prof David Nutt was fired. And in a leaked letter other scientists say they must now ask if they can continue in "good conscience". The letter said the remaining 28 members have "serious concerns" about Professor Nutt's dismissal. It also said: "For some members these matters are of such seriousness as to raise the question whether they can, in good conscience, continue on the council." [continues 61 words]
Police should turn a blind eye to drug dealers if they want to stamp out street crime, a controversial report says. Locking them up does no good and could even lead to violence as new villains fight it out to fill the gaps, experts warned in a report yesterday. Instead, they said, police should allow some dealers to ply their trade - and merely ask them to move away from residential neighbourhoods. The UK Drugs Policy Commission's paper suggested crime-busting crackdowns can be counter-productive. [continues 164 words]
Heroin should be handed out on the NHS because the fight against drugs is failing, a senior police officer said yesterday. Chief Constable Tom Lloyd believes giving users a free fix could stop them turning to crime and harming others. He also warned locking up junkies was not working. The Cambridgeshire police boss said: "If people are addicted to heroin and getting it on the street, that causes problems. "Let's give it on the NHS and stabilise communities, then sort out the other problems. We have doubled the number of prisoners over the last 20 years. It hasn't worked and never will." [continues 142 words]
Prisons are in the grip of an uncontrollable drugs crisis, according to a devastating report compiled by Britain's probation officers. Their evidence flies in the face of Government claims that inmates are using fewer drugs. The shocking report says: People being sent back to jail ask for specific prisons where they know drugs are easy to get. Drug dealers are actually breaking into jails to sell their goods. Governors fiddle the results of drug tests to show they are on top of the problem. [continues 263 words]
A british tourist has been jailed for four years in Dubai after police found a tiny speck of cannabis on the sole of his shoe. Keith Brown, 43, is believed to have stepped in the minuscule 0.003g of the drug on his way from Ethiopia to London. The trace, found inside the stub of a roll-up cigarette Keith had stood on, weighed less than a grain of sugar. But the dad-of-three was still charged under the United Arab Emirates' zero tolerance policy. Keith, a youth officer from Birmingham, was arrested at Dubai airport in September as he and wife Imani returned from a holiday to see family in Africa. Last night his brother Lee said: "Keith was jailed at Christmas and is trapped in a nightmare." [end]
Fury Over Class a Pill Claim One of Britain's top policemen sparked a furious row yesterday when he claimed Ecstasy was safer than aspirin. Richard Brunstrom, the controversial Chief Constable of North Wales, said there was "scaremongering" about deaths and the side-effects associated with the dance drug. He said: "Ecstasy is a remarkably safe substance, far safer than aspirin. It's far less dangerous than tobacco or alcohol which are freely available." This contradicts Government warnings about the Class A drug, which has been blamed for more than 200 deaths since 1996. [continues 512 words]
North Wales police chief Richard Brunstrom has called for all drugs, including heroin, to be legalised because current policy is based on "dogma rather than evidence". Brunstrom said the Misuse of Drugs Act should be repealed as the current UK drugs policy is based upon a "wholly outdated and thoroughly repugnant moralistic stance based upon rhetoric and dogma rather than a rational (and more ethical) philosophy". He also pointed out that it is impossible to combat an industry worth an estimated 8 billion pounds a year in the UK. [continues 310 words]
FOR decades governments have set out to win the war on drugs with hard-hitting campaigns. But a high-powered commission has concluded that the strategy of prevention has achieved little. The impact of drug abuse on society, ranging from crime, disorder, family breakdown and the enormous cost to taxpayers, cannot be over-estimated. Innocent families have been ripped apart by murders committed by drug addicts who also suffer mental illnesses. This week the UK Drugs Policy Commission will warn that the popularity of illegal substances is soaring. [continues 104 words]
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. [continues 314 words]
A PENSIONER who backs using cannabis in cooking for pain relief kept four plants in her home, a court heard yesterday. Patricia Tabram denies growing and possessing the drug, despite allegedly guiding police to a wardrobe rigged with cultivation gear, in which the plants were found. The 68-year-old grandmother also allegedly begged officers to take cannabis-laced meals in her freezer with them. She told the court they could have provided evidence that she only used cannabis for cooking. [continues 52 words]
Cameron Did Smoke Dope At Eton And Oxford But He Still Refuses To Say Anything About It DAVID Cameron faced damaging questions about his honesty last night after refusing to comment on revelations that he DID smoke cannabis at Eton and Oxford. A new biography discloses that the Tory leader narrowly avoided being expelled from Eton aged 15 for smoking "spliffs". It also refers to his "infrequent and moderate" consumption of cannabis during his three years at university. Declaring that Mr Cameron's integrity could become an election issue, a Labour source said: "Nobody cares what drugs he took, or how recently he stopped taking them. [continues 741 words]
IN recent year many high-profile MPs have admitted smoking cannabis as students. They include several Tory shadow ministers, including party chairman Francis Maude. Shadow Education Secretary David Willetts said he once tried the drug, as did Oliver Letwin, who heads David Cameron's policy development team. Speaking about cannabis, senior Tory Tim Yeo once said: "I don't share the view that it was disagreeable. I found it agreeable." Ex-MP Neil Hamilton said of his experience: "I couldn't taste anything." [continues 77 words]
TORY battleaxe Ann Widdecombe was offered a cannabis joint and had her car pelted with eggs after moving on to a tough estate for a new TV investigation. The outspoken MP, 59, spent a week living on the Andover estate in Islington, North London, and the Myatt's Field estate in Brixton, South London, to assess the effects of anti-social behaviour. But within hours of her arrival she was openly offered drugs by a gang of youths smoking in a doorway. [continues 140 words]
