Home Affairs Committee - Drugs: Breaking the CycleWritten evidence submitted by Joel Dalais (DP149)

My brief 10 points of “evidence”, thank you for reading.

An unemployed Criminology & Criminal Justice with Sociology Graduate, who’s worked years in the Plymouth Magistrates Courts (as a Volunteer), seen firsthand and done primary research into the main causes and reasoning’s of the most occurred crime. Also suffering from multiple diseases that doctors have given up on.

1. Alcohol fuelled crime is dominant amongst most magistrate courts (swapping back and forth with drug related crime)

There’s a lot of research done in this area, I’ve done some myself at Plymouth Magistrates, which covers a large surrounding area.

2. Legalisation would shift many alcohol users to cannabis, destroying two major crime problems at the same time

That cannabis would not be illegal, eliminating that crime problem, and that many people would smoke, and fall sleepy, not drink and turn violent.

3. Freeing up Prison and Police time and resources

Also, freeing up drug rehabilitation workers to assist those that really need help (heroic, cocaine addicts), so many drug rehabilitation centres across the nation have not been able to cope with the numbers for many years. And other similar agencies that are tasked with cannabis issues.

4. The amount of jobs and businesses it create (and would continue to create)

Cafes, dispensaries, medicinal facilities, regulators. All across the nation. If one city the size of Bristol, opened 50 Cafes employing an average of five people, 10 dispensaries employing an average of 10 people, five medicinal facilities employing an average of 15 staff, and 20 regulators to oversee and tax it all. That’s 445 jobs, and considering the size of Bristol, these numbers are very likely too low. Adding in the amount of jobs that I’m sure others could add to this small list, across the nation, we’re looking at 10’s of thousands of jobs.

5. The amount of tax from these new jobs and businesses

Well, I’m sure there’s others that can formulate a rough estimate, albeit to say it would be quite extensive. And the amount of job’s these new taxes could create, as well as the amount of people that would come off benefits due to jobs being available.

6. The medicinal usage

MS sufferers, cancer, limbs missing, mental health, eating disorders, sleeping disorders, arthritis, stress, blood pressure. I’m sure a medical professional could come up with a more detailed list. On a personal note—I was on medication for years, I apparently have multiple diseases that doctors have given up trying to identify (rheumatoid arthritis being one of them), the medication dissolved my stomach, I did not realize until I started bleeding from various orifices. Obviously I had to stop taking the medication. The only thing that relieves my pain now is when I get the opportunity to smoke cannabis. Yet I do so in fear, and so I must suffer in constant pain.

7. Criminalisation very often influences individuals to commit further crimes

I’m sure the professionals can point in the direction of the research better than I.

8. Even further reduction of crime/prison/police resources spent

Due to lack of criminaliSation of individuals who would then not commit the crimes they would have, snowball effect.

9. The health risks compared to cigarettes and alcohol

I’m sure I don’t need to go into the death figures of those that have died from alcohol poisoning, and cancer from cigarettes. There still is not 1 recorded death directly related to cannabis (falling down a staircase can happen to anyone, and being held on your back when choking on food (as happened to a lad in Plymouth last year) has absolutely nothing to do with cannabis).

10. Please end the stigma, it was used as a political platform many years ago, it would serve as a better political platform to now legaliSe it. Stop people from suffering, reduce and continue to reduce the crime rate. Repair the economy. Stop people living in fear. Repair our society. The government is supposed to serve and help the nation and the people, the “war” on drugs was never going to win, we can all see that now, please realise it’s time to start repairing the nation, before we sink even more.

I am sure others can/have come forward with more reasoning’s and details than these, I just needed to pass on my own words as briefly as I could, thank you again for reading.

January 2012