THE KEY QUESTION IS HOW DO WE MINIMISE HARM FROM DRUGS

We at Drugscope do not support the legalisation of drugs but we
appreciate the debate Richard Brunstrom is helping to generate. What
we do support is a review of the Misuse of Drugs Act. Charles Clarke,
when Home Secretary, promised there would such a review but the
Government changed its mind and that has not happened.

We need to look at the best way of minimising the harm drugs can cause
and that can mean looking at radical policy changes. But to be
effective and to get public support and investment, change has to be
incremental.

Proponents of legalisation are going for a massive leap into a policy
area we can only speculate on. For it to happen, it is going to need
such a paradigm shift, both politically and socially, and after that,
is it really going to be effective in terms of reducing drugs-related
harm?

Also, we still don't know what those who propose legalisation really
want? Are we talking about drugs being controlled by private
companies? Are we talking about availability in off-licenses or will
GPs be handing them out? We believe there are serious ethical issues
against GPs handing out substances designed to get their patients
high, not improve their health. I feel Mr Brunstrom has picked and
mixed from various reports and statements and put them together to
support his argument, for example he mentions the Royal Society of
Arts who were quite critical of the Misuse of Drugs Act but they did
not call for legalisation.

While we may disagree with Mr Brunstrom we would not deride his report
because it is compelling, but in terms of it addressing the issues and
challenges we face today, I'm not convinced.

One of the big issues still facing us is the effectiveness of drug
treatment. The Government has made unprecedented investment in
treatment but there are still things to be done in retaining people in
treatment and the effectiveness of the treatment we offer.

There needs to be greater emphasis on tackling some of the social
factors that can lead to problematic drug use, things such as truancy
at school, difficulties in the home and poor social housing.

We call on the Government to review the Misuse of Drugs Act as Charles
Clarke promised when he was Home Secretary.

Unfortunately, I don't believe this will happen. I don't think the
Prime Minister wants it. He has said he wants cannabis to be
reclassified as Class B and he did state in his conference speech
there would be no decriminalisation of drugs. That is surprising
because, at the moment, there is no great pressure on him to do that.
It implies that when it comes to enforcement and penalties, he will
take quite a strong line.