Source:
The GuardianBob Ainsworth describes war on drugs as 'nothing short of a disaster' and calls on government to look at other options
Hélène Mulholland and agencies
Thursday December 16 2010 10.35 GMT
A former Labour minister was rebuked by Ed Miliband's office today after calling for a "grown-up debate" to consider legalising drugs on the grounds that prohibition has failed to protect the public. Bob Ainsworth, the MP for Bassetlaw who previously served as a drugs minister in the Home Office and as defence secretary, has claimed that the war on drugs has been "nothing short of a disaster" and that it was time to study other options, including decriminalising possession of drugs and legally regulating their production and supply.
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He said his ministerial stint in the Home Office made him see that prohibition failed to reduce the harm that drugs cause in the UK, while his time 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".
He 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". His calls for a review was backed by former Conservative party deputy leader Peter Lilley, who said that 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," said Lilley. "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."
Ainsworth cited the legalisation of alcohol in the United States after 13 years of prohibition to argue that after 50 years of global drug prohibition it was time for a "genuine and grown-up debate" about alternatives to prohibition, which he said had "failed to protect us".
Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/dec/16/legalise-drugs-former-defence-minister
War on drugs a 'disaster' says MP in legalisation call.Thursday December 16 2010
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The Labour backbencher, who was previously a Home Office drugs minister, claimed the "war on drugs" has been "nothing short of a disaster" and insisted it is time to look at other options.
"Leaving the drugs market in the hands of criminals causes huge and unnecessary harm to individuals, communities and entire countries, with the poorest hardest hit," he said.
"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."
Full article:
http://www.channel4.com/news/war-on-drugs-a-disaster-says-mp-in-legalisation-call