AN INJECTION OF SENSE

We must separate soft from hard drugs

Government drug tsar Keith Hellawell yesterday rejected the idea of
the police drawing a distinction between drug users and illicit
dealers, insisting that the government's 10-year strategy was on
course to achieve better control.

Just two hours later, the Police Foundation's independent inquiry into
the laws controlling drug misuse exposed just how contradictory and
incoherent they have become.

A policy which is supposed to be switching the focus towards treatment
(which does work) from enforcement (which does not) is still spending
62% on enforcement and a mere 13% on treatment. Despite record
seizures (UKP700m in 1998) of illicit drugs, the quantity, quality and
price of drugs on the street remains almost totally unaffected.
Indeed, some prices have fallen.

The value of confiscation orders, which could deter some big dealers,
fell by a half between 1996 and 1997. Meanwhile, unless you are HIV
positive or suffer from a serious psychiatric condition, the chance of
finding a quick place for treatment are remote.

Initial assessments take between eight and 22 weeks, and the waiting
period for admission can take up to a further 40 weeks.

This is the first comprehensive review of the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act
since its enactment.

The framework remains sound - separating drugs into three separate
categories according to dangerousness - but the scene has been
transformed. An estimated 2.5m young people (16 to 29) used cannabis
last year and perhaps 500,000 tried ecstasy.

Hard drug addicts have increased at an even more troubling rate: a
1,000% increase in notified addicts and a 2,000% increase in heroin
addiction. The true picture is estimated to be at least five times
larger than notified numbers - as many as 250,000. The current policy
is meant to target the most dangerous dealers but, absurdly, 90% of
all drug offences involve possession. Cannabis accounts for 78% of all
drug offences.

Hence the special attention which the commission gives to possession
and cannabis.

The commission has drawn up a coherent package, which would end
current contradictions and follow sound social principles. It rightly
concludes that the most dangerous message is that all drugs are
equally dangerous.

First, it is not true and, second, young people will quickly see
through such a message and may subsequently ignore warnings about
genuinely hazardous drugs.

A reclassification of drugs is long overdue.

After long consultations with national experts, the commission
suggests heroin, cocaine and crack should remain in category A; LSD
and ecstacy, which are not as dangerous, should be downgraded to
category B; and cannabis should be transferred from class B to class
C. It wants drug use to be seen more of a health than a criminal problem.

Penalties should be proportionate to the risk of harm posed by the
drug. Prison should no longer be a penalty for the possession of class
B and C drugs on the pragmatic grounds that it has caused more harm
than good. Instead a wide range of other options are set out -
cautions, treatment, fines and community penalties. The ban on the
therapeutic use of cannabis should be abolished.

Some on the right will be scandalised. They will regard the report as
a victory for loony liberals.

They should take another look at its membership: two chief constables
and a distinguished array of medical, legal and drug specialists. We
have been waging a US-style war on drugs for too long. All that has
achieved is a war on our children.

Home Office ministers insist liberalisation would only increase
consumption. They're wrong.

It is not just Holland which is more liberal but Italy, France, Spain
and Switzerland too. Cannabis consumption is lower in all these
countries and they have been more successful in controlling hard
drugs. Moreover, British public opinion is moving too. Many more
people rightly regard alcohol and tobacco as more dangerous than cannabis.

A genuinely progressive government would move now. We do not need a
royal commission - all the facts are set out in yesterday's report.