Welcome to Body Confidential
Reset Password
Health
You are here: Body Confidential › Health.
Drug addicts: criminals or patients?
Lynda Moyo reports on the pipe dream of decriminalising drugs
In the same week Phil Mitchell went from meat-head to crack-head in Eastenders, British Medical Journal (BMJ) writer Stephen Rolles - along with the backing of distinguished outing physician, Professor Sir Ian Gilmore - has suggested we’re fighting a losing battle against the war on drugs in the UK.
Police revealed this week that more than 6,800 cannabis farms and factories were discovered in the UK last year alone.
Rolles clams we need to end the criminalisation of drugs and instead set up regulatory models that will control drug markets and reduce the health and social harms caused by current policy.
He said: ‘Evidence is mounting that this policy has not only exacerbated many public health problems, such as adulterated drugs and the spread of HIV and hepatitis B and C infection among injecting drug users, but has created a much larger set of secondary harms associated with the criminal market.’
Professor Gilmore is the president of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP). He seconded Rolles’ article by sending a scathing email to the RCP’s 25,000 members. Deemed as controversial to some, the email not only detailed the war on drugs from a health perspective, but also outlined how changes to drug laws could reduce crime. Speaking to the BBC, Gilmore said the present policy of prohibition ‘is not a success', citing his experience working as a liver specialist as a major cause for concern.
"Every day in our hospital wards we see drug addicts with infections from dirty needles; we see heroin addicts with complications from contaminated drugs," he said. He argued that many of the problems health staff encountered were the consequences of prohibition, not drugs, endorsing a BMJ article titled An alternative to the war on drugs.
The Home Office has restated its position on drugs, following the BMJ report and Gilmore’s call for a review of the law. A spokesperson said: “Drugs such as heroin, cocaine and cannabis are extremely harmful and can cause misery to communities across the country.
“The government does not believe that decriminalisation is the right approach. Our priorities are clear; we want to reduce drug use, crack down on drug-related crime and disorder and help addicts come off drugs for good.”
Opinion is clearly mixed on the issue. Those against decriminalisation believe legalising drugs would simply result in a lot more people taking them, whilst those in favour often refer to the success of decriminalisation in other European countries. In Portugal, changes to the law in 2001 led to a cut in overdoses and a fall in the number of young users.
It’s certainly provided a talking point over what appear to be a growing problem in the UK. Police revealed this week that more than 6,800 cannabis farms and factories were discovered in the UK last year alone. They also reported that cannabis growers are often involved in other crimes, ranging from counterfeiting currency and money laundering to firearms, prostitution, and people trafficking.
Whilst it may be unpleasant to think of drug users and the associated health and crime implications, the problem isn’t going away.
As Eastenders actress Tanya Franks said, in response to viewer complaints about the Phil Mitchell storyline: "I wasn't surprised that people complained because it's pushed a boundary. But in my opinion, the good that comes from storylines like this far outweighs whatever concerns people might have. We shouldn't shy away from it."
Like what you see? Enter your email to sign up for our newsletters which are chock-a-block with more great videos, food reviews, news, deals and savings.
11 comments so far, continue the conversation, write a comment.
Competitions
Win A Family Pass To Alton Towers Resort
Win A Nars Makeup Masterclass Place And Goody Bag
Win A Fairly Traded Goody Bag
Win £100 Worth Of Brave Soul Clothing
Win A Framed Anime Print
Win Amy Childs’ Lashes
Win A Pair Of Daisy Street Shoes
Win A KeraStraight Style Solution At Trevor Sorbie
Win A Koo-Ture Dress Worth £300
Win Hotel Chocolat’s Eggsibitionist Extra Thick Easter Egg
Offers
- Spa 303 Daycation - StrictlySpa daycation at Spa 303, Hilton Manchester with dining at Podium
- IPL Manchester - StrictlySAVE up to 87%: IPL Hair Removal, Manchester city centre
- King Street Medi Spa - Waxing Strictly DealUnlimited waxing at King Street Medi-Spa, Manchester and Liverpool
- Win A VIP Portfolio Worth £1,000Prize includes a luxury makeover and professional photoshoot
- Limelite Makeover Day - Strictly ConfidentialSAVE 70%: £15pp makeover day inc facial
- French ConnectionReceive a complimentary gift when you spend £75 at French Connection in Selfridges.
- Castlefield Clinic - Murad Firming TreatmentSAVE 50% Murad Firm and Tone Body Treatment £22.50
- Nicky Clarke Hairdressers, Manchester£30 haircuts at Nicky Clarke
- Trevor Sorbie Salon, Manchester£15 blow dry and £10 nails or get 30% off colour services
- Jeannette JacksonLose 14lbs in 14 days
- Gyne Health ClinicSAVE 48% Ovarian Reserve Test for Women £55
- Gyne Health Clinic - StrictlySAVE 36% Fertility Consultation at GyneHealth Clinic, city centre £175
- Confidential EscapesHand-picked holidays and luxury hotels at up to 70% off.
- Little Black Dress DietLose up to a stone in two weeks with Jeannette Jackson's LBD Diet
We need to reframe our viewpoint on this debate. The idea that drug use is abhorrent, wrong or abnormal is patently false. Whether it is with drink, drugs or ecstatic dancing under the stars, humanity has always found ways to get high. Even young children enjoy spinning around and around till they get woozy.
Prohibition over the last 90 years in the Western world has been a huge failure. You are never going to stamp out desire. All we can do is legislate and regulate so we take this trade out of criminals and warlords grasps.
We can either ask the Tooth Fairy to make people stop taking drugs or we can decide to regulate them properly. -Prohibition is not regulation, it's is a hideous nightmare for all of us and our families, except of course for the lowest lifeforms amongst us.
Because Drug cartels will always have an endless supply of ready cash for wages, bribery and equipment, no amount of tax money, police powers, weaponry, wishful thinking or pseudo-science will make our streets safe again. Only an end to prohibition can do that! How much longer are we willing to foolishly risk our own survival by continuing to ignore the obvious, historically confirmed solution?
Ok , now I WILL mention the war. You lot couldn't control your drinking habits and turn up for making bombs the following morning, that's why pub hours were introduced... today Britain is the coke capital of Europe (or even the world?). Not much change really.
It seems (according to Wiki!) that Britain is not the coke capital of the world. en.wikipedia.org/…/List_of_countries_by_prevalence_of_cocaine_use…
However, for those interested in this issue, I would suggest you check out the interesting, well researched and intelligent arguments about drug policy reform that the government are currently ignoring on their own Your Freedom website. E.g yourfreedom.hmg.gov.uk/…/repeal-drugs-prohibition…
Britain NOT coke capital of the world! Exclude Wales and you will find it is.
The Government have no qualms about pimping off dangerous drugs like alcohol and nicotine but are terrified of being booted out of office by fear crazed Daily Mail readers who are too thick to work out that decriminalisation would lead to less not more crime. In the same way that Prohibition in the States created the Mafia, drug laws here created the Cheetham Hill, Gooch, Salford gangs.
Anyone who takes cocaine is contributing to the terrible situation in Mexico.28,000 dead ! We should consider legalising cannabis. I have no idea what to do about harder drugs but certainly the current situation isnt working.
those slippery slope arguments that loads more people will take drugs if they're decriminalised are surely overly cautious arguments that don't necessarily add up.
Alcopops are fully legal and i have no compunction to sling some of those down my gob every weekend.
i can't talk as i have dabbled myself in the past a couple of times (not again, thanks) but i remember ex Met chief Sir Ian Blair being once asked at a dinner party the price of coke, to which he said something like "The price of cocaine is misery in Colombia and on south London housing estates", his remark was reported in the press.
there was an interesting article in a recent issue of GQ where they sent a bloke to work in an Amsterdam cafe for a week or two, and report back, comparing it to the changes afoot in some states of the USA about cannabis (California has liberal medicinal marijuana laws, i gather). long story short, some of the hoped-for changes in the US system are actually better and less regressive than what happens in the 'Dam. a well-regulated partial decriminalisation of some drugs in some areas as a test-run would be nice. if it 'works', that can help convince sceptics.
Our country is nearly broke, legalising and taxing some drugs (not all) is an easy and quick way to get back in the black.
Watch the US, they know this and legalisation will start to happen soon (not just for medical use). I'd imagine we'd follow suit.
Alcohol is freely available and yet we're not all raving alcoholics.
I don't see why legalisation of other narcotics will turn us into a nation of addicts.
Legalising drugs is the sensible way forward. Currently, we seem happy to accept drugs in society - but then to conveniently forget the distribution channels and the method of payment.
By abdicating responsibility we pass distribution to criminal gangs, push users to crime to pay for the drugs and leave the quality of the drugs to people who are patently ill-suited to the job in hand.
Drug legalisation is politically unpalatable - but clear thinking and brave decisions are urgently required.
I always laugh when the Police announce their latest success story at stopping drugs. Even a complete novice in economics would appreciate that the laws of supply and demand simply mean that the price goes up - requiring the hardened user to steal more to feed the habit.
So come on Dave and Nick - how brave are you really?