Time for a fresh approach to drugs policy
SIR – In April 2016, the special session of the UN General Assembly on the world drug problem took place in New York. This showed how drug policies around the world are moving beyond the 20th-century prohibitionist framework that has failed to curb – and, in various ways, has exacerbated – many forms of drug-related harm.
There is growing recognition, articulated by the World Health Organisation, that drug policy has been hampered by emphasising criminal justice over public health. With a refreshed strategy due this year, our Government has a chance to be part of the new movement. Despite an overall reduction in illegal drug use since the Nineties, many forms of drug-related health harm are rising. Deaths due to drug misuse have more than doubled over the past 20 years, and figures released on Friday showed a further 8.5 per cent rise. Only a quarter of British people believes the current drugs strategy protects health.
Taking a New Line on Drugs –a report published in June by the Royal Society for Public Health and endorsed by the Faculty of Public Health – sets out how a public-health approach to drugs policy could reduce harm, and argues that those who use drugs need treatment and support, instead of being treated as criminals.
Decriminalisation – as distinct from legalisation – of the personal possession and use of illegal drugs has been shown to facilitate significant reductions in drug-related harm, without promoting use. Criminalising users severs relationships, creates barriers to education and employment, undermines treatment services and fails to address the reasons for substance misuse. It also puts the burden of harm disproportionately on to disadvantaged groups.
More than half of British adults agree that drug users should be referred for treatment, rather than charged with an offence. It is time we considered taking a new line on drugs. Shirley Cramer Chief Executive, Royal Society for Public Health Professor John Middleton President, Faculty of Public Health Ron Hogg Police and Crime Commissioner Co Durham and Darlington and 12 others; see telegraph.co.uk