daledo
16th December 2010, 10:15
Bob Ainsworth describes war on drugs as 'nothing short of a disaster' and calls on government to look at other options
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Admin/BkFill/Default_image_group/2010/12/16/1292486452832/Former-Defence-Secretary--007.jpg
Bob Ainsworth has called on the government to replace 'failed war on drugs' with strict regulation. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
Former defence secretary Bob Ainsworth has called for the government to consider legalising drugs, saying prohibition has failed to protect the public.
The war on drugs had been "nothing short of a disaster" and it was time to study other options, including decriminalising possession of drugs and legally regulating their production and supply, Ainsworth said.
Referring to the legalisation of alcohol in the United States after 13 years of prohibition, he said: "After 50 years of global drug prohibition it is time for governments throughout the world to repeat this shift with currently illegal drugs."
The Labour backbencher, who was previously a Home Office drugs minister, went on: "Politicians and the media need to engage in a genuine and grown up debate about alternatives to prohibition, so that we can build a consensus based on delivering the best outcomes for our children and communities.
"Prohibition has failed to protect us.
"Leaving the drugs market in the hands of criminals causes huge and unnecessary harms to individuals, communities and entire countries, with the poor the hardest hit.
"We spend billions of pounds without preventing the wide availability of drugs.
"It is time to replace our failed war on drugs with a strict system of legal regulation, to make the world a safer, healthier place, especially for our children.
"We must take the trade away from organised criminals and hand it to the control of doctors and pharmacists."
Ainsworth called on those on all sides of the debate to support "an independent, evidence-based review, exploring all policy options, including further resourcing the war on drugs, decriminalising the possession of drugs, and legally regulating their production and supply".
"One way to do this would be an impact assessment of the Misuse of Drugs Act in line with the 2002 home affairs select committee finding – which included David Cameron – for the government to explore alternatives to prohibition, including legal regulation.
"As drugs minister in the Home Office I saw how prohibition fails to reduce the harm that drugs cause in the UK, fuelling burglaries, gifting the trade to gangsters and increasing HIV infections.
"My experience as defence secretary, with specific responsibilities in Afghanistan, showed to me that the war on drugs creates the very conditions that perpetuate the illegal trade, while undermining international development and security.
"My departure from the front benches gives me the freedom to express my long-held view that whilst it was put in place with the best of intentions, the war on drugs has been nothing short of a disaster."
Ainsworth criticised the government's new drugs strategy, which aims to shift the focus from reducing the harm caused by drugs to recovery as the most effective route out of dependency.
"It is described by the home secretary as fundamentally different to what has gone before; it is not," he said.
"To the extent that it is different, it is potentially harmful because it retreats from the principle of harm reduction, which has been one of the main reasons for the reduction in acquisitive crime in recent years."
Former Conservative party deputy leader Peter Lilley said it was time "for all politicians to stop using the issue as a political football".
"I have long advocated breaking the link between soft and hard drugs – by legalising cannabis while continuing to prohibit hard drugs," he said.
"But I support Bob Ainsworth's sensible call for a proper, evidence-based review, comparing the pros and cons of the current prohibitionist approach with all the alternatives, including wider decriminalisation and legal regulation."
Crime prevention minister James Brokenshire said: "Drugs are harmful and ruin lives – legalisation is not the answer.
"Decriminalisation is a simplistic solution that fails to recognise the complexity of the problem and ignores the serious harm drug taking poses to the individual.
"Legalisation fails to address the reasons people misuse drugs in the first place or the misery, cost and lost opportunities that dependence causes individuals, their families and the wider community."
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Admin/BkFill/Default_image_group/2010/12/16/1292486452832/Former-Defence-Secretary--007.jpg
Bob Ainsworth has called on the government to replace 'failed war on drugs' with strict regulation. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
Former defence secretary Bob Ainsworth has called for the government to consider legalising drugs, saying prohibition has failed to protect the public.
The war on drugs had been "nothing short of a disaster" and it was time to study other options, including decriminalising possession of drugs and legally regulating their production and supply, Ainsworth said.
Referring to the legalisation of alcohol in the United States after 13 years of prohibition, he said: "After 50 years of global drug prohibition it is time for governments throughout the world to repeat this shift with currently illegal drugs."
The Labour backbencher, who was previously a Home Office drugs minister, went on: "Politicians and the media need to engage in a genuine and grown up debate about alternatives to prohibition, so that we can build a consensus based on delivering the best outcomes for our children and communities.
"Prohibition has failed to protect us.
"Leaving the drugs market in the hands of criminals causes huge and unnecessary harms to individuals, communities and entire countries, with the poor the hardest hit.
"We spend billions of pounds without preventing the wide availability of drugs.
"It is time to replace our failed war on drugs with a strict system of legal regulation, to make the world a safer, healthier place, especially for our children.
"We must take the trade away from organised criminals and hand it to the control of doctors and pharmacists."
Ainsworth called on those on all sides of the debate to support "an independent, evidence-based review, exploring all policy options, including further resourcing the war on drugs, decriminalising the possession of drugs, and legally regulating their production and supply".
"One way to do this would be an impact assessment of the Misuse of Drugs Act in line with the 2002 home affairs select committee finding – which included David Cameron – for the government to explore alternatives to prohibition, including legal regulation.
"As drugs minister in the Home Office I saw how prohibition fails to reduce the harm that drugs cause in the UK, fuelling burglaries, gifting the trade to gangsters and increasing HIV infections.
"My experience as defence secretary, with specific responsibilities in Afghanistan, showed to me that the war on drugs creates the very conditions that perpetuate the illegal trade, while undermining international development and security.
"My departure from the front benches gives me the freedom to express my long-held view that whilst it was put in place with the best of intentions, the war on drugs has been nothing short of a disaster."
Ainsworth criticised the government's new drugs strategy, which aims to shift the focus from reducing the harm caused by drugs to recovery as the most effective route out of dependency.
"It is described by the home secretary as fundamentally different to what has gone before; it is not," he said.
"To the extent that it is different, it is potentially harmful because it retreats from the principle of harm reduction, which has been one of the main reasons for the reduction in acquisitive crime in recent years."
Former Conservative party deputy leader Peter Lilley said it was time "for all politicians to stop using the issue as a political football".
"I have long advocated breaking the link between soft and hard drugs – by legalising cannabis while continuing to prohibit hard drugs," he said.
"But I support Bob Ainsworth's sensible call for a proper, evidence-based review, comparing the pros and cons of the current prohibitionist approach with all the alternatives, including wider decriminalisation and legal regulation."
Crime prevention minister James Brokenshire said: "Drugs are harmful and ruin lives – legalisation is not the answer.
"Decriminalisation is a simplistic solution that fails to recognise the complexity of the problem and ignores the serious harm drug taking poses to the individual.
"Legalisation fails to address the reasons people misuse drugs in the first place or the misery, cost and lost opportunities that dependence causes individuals, their families and the wider community."