Home Affairs Committee - Drugs: Breaking the CycleWritten evidence submitted by R P Jones (DP180)
The Home Affairs Select Committee requested written submissions for a new Inquiry Into Drugs. This submission has been written up into six sections, in line with the Committee’s desire to example the government’s drug strategy in terms of fiscal responsibility, science, health, security and human rights. There is also a section on possible alternatives to the current strategy.
Science
1. At the moment drug policy is decided by politicians that don’t seem to be listening to all the peer reviewed evidence on the safety of cannabis. cannabis has been around for millions of years yet there are no recorded deaths from the “drug”. scientist’s in other countries have done enough research on the plant for the evidence of its safety to speak for itself, yet our politicians still won’t allow proper research into cannabis in this country because they fear the wrath of the Daily Mail—other media. cannabis could be the wonder drug of the 21st century with all the evidence coming out about the treatments for illnesses and ailments yet this country would rather pay big pharmaceutical companies huge amounts for their man made drugs. I believe if the government listened to the Independent Drug Monitoring Unit (IDMU) then I don’t think this country would be in the state it is.
Health
2. I believe that the health risks posed by drugs in this country are compounded by prohibition. There are no regulations relating to any street drugs in this country and therefore the danger’s from taking illegal drugs are multiplied by prohibition, I don’t believe all drugs should be legal but the Soft drugs that are relatively harmless in countries such as Holland and Portugal pose more of a danger in an un-regulated market due to the huge demand for them, organised crime can at the moment take advantage of the current system by setting their own prices and make huge profits from supplying their customers with a product that is low quality/cut with different contaminants to boost their already huge profits. Cannabis cut with glass and metal filings, hashish cut with anything lying around just to add weight are available on the streets of Britain, Is it not time to stop gifting the gangsters with the profits and start giving more thought to patients that have to buy street cannabis just to relieve themselves of pain. A lot of people use cannabis for health reasons and a lot of them live in areas where their local health services refuse to prescribe cannabis sprays because of the costs to the National Health Service (NHS).
Security
3. In this country people who use cannabis have to buy theirs from street dealers who in turn get their drugs from organised crime. If a dealer hasn’t got cannabis he will offer something else. if people don’t want to buy off street dealers then they have to produce it themselves by growing it etc, surely a substance as harmless as cannabis (Non Toxic) should be available for public consumption (such as alcohol) if only to stop organised crime from making huge profits from it, and to stop them importing people into the country to grow cannabis for them, no-one wants to come into contact with this calibre of people on a daily basis so it’s unfair to force people who need cannabis as a medicine to seek them out and make themselves criminals .
Fiscal Responsibility
4. The drug policy at the moment is dead in the water, more people are discovering that the war on drugs has failed abysmally. Yet the Government still throw money towards prohibition and spend billions on a policy that just does not work, The amount of money spent on customs and excise, police and overtime for police raids, NHS, prisons, magistrates judges and then there is the cost to put someone in jail (for growing a plant). Recent discoveries into the medicinal benefits from cannabis should be more than enough evidence to show that cannabis has a place in the medicine cupboard, the government persist on telling us that cannabis has no medical benefits yet allow GW Pharmaceuticals to grow 30 tonnes of cannabis a year to make Sativex, This is very hypocritical. Legalising cannabis and regulating it (coffee shops) would bring in an estimated 6 billion a year along with issuing licenses for people to grow their own as they do in Spain, Holland, Portugal, Italy, Germany etc.
Human Rights
5. I don’t believe that cannabis users have the same human rights as other people in the country. Cannabis users risk being arrested in their own home, dragged outside where their neighbours will see them being arrested, having their money taken by the authorities, getting a criminal record, being fined, going to jail, having their children put in care over a harmless plant. Even if their caught with small amounts the police tend to push for a more serious charge of intent to supply. Everyone gets a different outcome depending on the judge they are up in front. Surely this impacts on their human rights when it comes to criminal records, getting jobs etc.
Alternatives
6. The only alternative to prohibition is de-criminalise/legalise. Use the taxes from cannabis to sort the mess out in this country, By legalising cannabis you could concentrate on supplying a clean reliable product, there would be 70,000 less criminals a year, prisons would not be as crowded, the police could concentrate on real crime, organised crime would not be gifted the 6 billion a year they currently get, The pressure on the NHS could be relieved and taxes from cannabis could go towards the NHS, people would be nicer and the world would be a better place.
February 2012