http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jun/02/drugs-drugspolicy
The way we go about trying to deal with the problems that surround illegal drug use is pathetic, stuck in moral attitudes from a time when we peddled the stuff abroad whilst issuing prohibition here. I can see no problem with drug-taking of any kind that doesn’t breach the peace or inflict costs on others beyond give and take.
I believe the moral approbation current practice in the UK relies on on drugs and sex needs to be swept away. This would be to clear the way for much better control of health and peace in our communities without criminalisation. I also believe we need sweeping changes in our legal system and that these issues could be the test ground for producing a new system more clearly linked to a fairer system based much more directly on public dialogue.
The squalid depravity of drink, drugs and the sex trade need to be exposed, as well as gross unfairness that lumps someone taking cannabis to ease pain with some scrote blaring out music, acting as a neighbourhood fence (for anything from stolen jeans to under-age sex) and ruining lives around him/her. Just changing possession laws is not the answer, and could lead to even more difficulty dealing with associated problems.
I’d go for key changes in administrative law, including the tracking of criminal profits to prevent vice turning to rackets. The Dutch have taken very significant steps, but have not got it all right. I certainly prefer coffee shops on Main Street to shebeens on estates. Pubs and clubs might just be places to allow supply and use.
Politicians totally fail us in this area. We need the debate and decisions out of their barking interests and in our hands. This would be a great area to try our new techniques of public dialogue and referendum.
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