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MP calls war on drugs futile

Teh Mite

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Oh look, this again

Ex-minister in call to decriminalise all drugs

A former minister with responsibility for drugs policy has called for the decriminalisation of all drugs.
Bob Ainsworth, who oversaw the issue at the Home Office in Tony Blair's government, said the approach of successive administrations had failed.
The Labour MP for Coventry North East, also a former defence secretary, said the current policy left the drugs trade in the hands of criminal gangs.
Ministers have insisted they remain opposed to decriminalisation.
Media backlash Mr Ainsworth is the most senior politician so far to publicly call for all drugs, including heroin and cocaine, to be decriminalised.
He said he realised while he was a minister in the Home Office in charge of drugs policy that the so-called war on drugs could not be won.
Mr Ainsworth has called for a strict system of legal regulation under which different drugs would either be prescribed by doctors or sold under licence.
The Labour backbencher said successive governments had been frightened to raise the issue because they feared a media backlash.
But he predicted in the end ministers would have no option but to adopt a different approach and consider decriminalisation.
He said: "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.
Billions spent "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."
Mr Ainsworth said billions of pounds was being spent "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," he said.
"We must take the trade away from organised criminals and hand it to the control of doctors and pharmacists."
BBC political correspondent Norman Smith says it seems highly unlikely there will be any imminent change in drugs policy, despite Mr Ainsworth's intervention.
All three main parties at Westminster remain opposed to decriminalisation.
Last week Home Secretary Theresa May said the government's drugs strategy would remain focused on rehabilitation and reducing supply.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12005824
 
So he wants legalizes drugs, he probably just wants to get high himself.
 
Some of you will remember almost two years ago, there was a topic about the legalisation f drugs: http://www.therugbyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?13028-Should-drugs-be-legalised

Now, Bob Ainsworth MP, formerly of the home office, has called for the legalisation of all drugs: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12005824

What do you guys think now? Both the BBC and, surprisingly, the Daily Mail message boards seem to be overwhelmingly supportive of Ainsworth.

Which begs the question: If ordinary people can realise and accept what's staring them in the face, 1) why has Ainsworth waited to be a backbencher before airing this opinion; 2) why is the current government point-blanc refusing to consider it; 3) why is Ed Milliband, in opposition, too scared to support his MP?

I'm not starting this topic to restart the debate on drug legalisation - it's more a question of why our politicians (left and right) seem to be SO scared of middle england.
 
There was a reason these things were banned in the first place.

0 deaths due to weed in our entire history

Rofl, I seriously hate druggies so much
 
the govt cant make them legal
as people would then hold the govt responsible for damage caused by the drugs. same would be said if they reppealed smoking laws for example
i just cant see any govt letting it happen
 
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There's a huge industry subsidised by the government to prohibit production and distribution of these drugs. Complete waste of time and taxpayer money in my opinion, plus there's a constant pressure on people's freedom.

Won't go into the merits. My view is libertarian. I don't touch them, don't really care if others do so long as they're not causing me hassle.

Government is afraid of middle England? You can take that either way - middle England is the biggest consumer. And government would benefit hugely by the tax take once the drugs are not just decriminalised but legalised too. I think California took steps in this direction earlier in the year when they realised the state was bankrupt.
 
Mite, as a supporter of the Conservative party, shouldn't you be against the government intervention in the lives of the public via the war on drugs and pro the choice of people to decide how they treat their body? Wouldn't a market for drugs dramatically reduce crime a la the decline of the mafia in the post-prohibition period in the USA and have many benefits like the opportunity for hospitals to use Heroin as pain relief, seeing as it is widely considered the most effective reliever of extreme pain with the fewest health consequences?

Not trolling btw, although very drunk, I'm genuinely curious.
 
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