HOW PROHIBITION BOOSTS DRUG USE

The former chief constable Ian Oliver makes the common mistake of
assuming that punitive drug laws actually reduce use.

UK policymakers should consider the experience of the United States.
The results of a World Health Organisation survey in July found the
US had the highest rates of cannabis and cocaine use of 17 countries
surveyed, including those such as the Netherlands that have
decriminalised drug use.

These abysmal results are not due to lack of trying. Thanks to the US
drugs war, the land of the free now has the highest incarceration
rate in the world. Rather than emulate the US approach, the UK should go Dutch.

Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, DC, USA