NORTH WEST MEP: LEGALISE DRUGS TO CUT CRIME

DRUGS like cannabis, cocaine and heroin should be legalised and sold
in "closely supervised" high street outlets, a Lancashire politician
has claimed.

The drastic changes to the law should be made to help addicts to
quit and also tackle criminals making a "fortune".

Liberal Democrat Euro MP Chris Davies, whose North West constituency
includes Lancashire, said that the policies of prohibition demanded
by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs had failed.

He said: "Chicago gangster Al Capone did well out of US alcohol
prohibition in the 1920s, but legions of his kind now make a fortune
out of 21st century drugs prohibition on a world-wide scale.

"They corrupt officials, undermine governments, and make a laughing
stock of police forces across the world.

"The illegal drug trade also funds terrorist organisations and puts
guns in the hands of those who would kill British soldiers in
southern Afghanistan."

The MEP said that the only way to defeat the criminals is to
legalise some drugs, making them available for sale through closely
supervised official outlets.

He said. "Drugs are generally harmful and health messages must be
stepped up, but so long as criminals make money out of pushing their
sale they have no chance of success.

"The current system of absolute prohibition is creating more drug
users not less.

"If people wanting to quit smoking or drinking ran the risk of being
locked up if they asked for help, the public would rightly think
that politicians had taken leave of their senses."