Home Affairs Committee - Drugs: Breaking the CycleWritten evidence submitted by Joe Milburn (DP009)
In my opinion the UK’s drugs policy is fatally flawed in many ways and does much more harm than good. This harm is not only felt in the drug consuming community but in society as a whole. As a consumer of Cannabis I am constantly facing threats from all sides, threats of persecution at the hands of an uneducated society, threats of prosecution from a police force who are enforcing a pointless law and most unnerving, I face threats from the suppliers of my Cannabis. I can deal with the first two, if somebody wants to victimize me for my choice they can but I am not forced to care. If I get caught in possession of Cannabis, I can deal with it, just take the wrap and face the consequences, but I cannot do anything about the suppliers. The people I entrust to manufacture and distribute my drugs are for the most part very dangerous and most certainly the kind who are unlikely to have a customer complaints division.
I am talking about the gangs who are forever chasing a profit that is so easy for them to make as a result of prohibition. This pursuit of profit has no boundaries, no regulations and no conscience. On many occasions I have bought Cannabis that has been laced with contaminants such as glass, grit, road paint and many other despicable chemicals to boost the appearance and weight of the specimen. Why should a plant that has been proven harmless on many occasions be entrusted to a group of people with no regard for the health of its consumers? For the sake of abandoning party politics this country could prevent a lot of unnecessary suffering and also profit greatly from taxation of a regulated market and the reduced expenditure of having to deal with this unnecessary laws.
Like many other users of Cannabis in particular I am forced to keep lining the pockets of these mobsters for low quality and potentially dangerous products. In many of the more serious cases this money goes straight towards funding horrific acts such as human trafficking, protection rackets, child labour, gun crime and in some extreme cases terrorism. Wouldn’t my £20 a week be better in the pockets of the government who could very much do with the money right now? Regulation is proven to be a much better and productive strategy than prohibition which has been proven time and time again to be harmful to society so it begs the question, why are we still enacting prohibition?
Give people a choice, let them choose the healthier option and let it actually be healthy. As a user of Cannabis only I cannot testify the effects of prohibition on other drug markets but contamination and impurity is an issue across the board. Many substances are only made unhealthy as a result of prohibition.
December 2011