DOn’t dO It
City’s seven MPs urge Tory Government to reconsider harsher punishments for drug users in crackdown
all seven of glasgow’s MPs have called on the government to reconsider harsher punishments for drug users.
The Westminster Government’s new drugs strategy has been slammed for setting back UK drugs policy by years.
Despite token mentions of rehab and treatment, all main planks of the Tories’ blueprint point squarely at punishment, prohibition and prevention as the main ways of tackling addiction.
Boris Johnson’s plans included measures that seek to take passports and even driving licences from casual drug users – moving in a hardline direction opposite to most advanced nations on drugs policy.
The MPs representing Glasgow – one of the worst-hit cities in the UK – believe the new approach will cause far more harm than good.
The measures maintain the failed ideals of the “war on drugs”, which chases a fantasy goal of stopping drugs entering the UK, jailing all drug gangs and stopping addiction with the threat of harsh penalties for users.
The Glasgow MPs, led by the SNP’s Alison Thewliss, wrote to UK policing minister Kit
Malthouse yesterday to urge a rethink. They want a public health approach to drug use and addiction instead. Thewliss, who has championed the cause for addicts in Glasgow city centre, said: “Hundreds of people will needlessly die on the streets of Glasgow this year, and this strategy will do very little to help. “I’ve been campaigning to establish a safe injection facility for several years, and have come up against roadblocks set up by the UK Government time and time again. Many countries have these facilities, and they are proven to help people engage with medical and recovery professionals. “It’s beyond comprehension that the Tories would act directly against expert advice when so many lives are at risk.” The Home Office said the new strategy will drive down drug supply and demand, support people through treatment and recovery and be “even tougher” on criminals. All seven MPs are SNP. Patrick Grady, David Linden, Stewart McDonald, Anne McLaughlin, Carol Monaghan and Chris Stephens have all signed Thewliss’s letter.