Comments on: The drugs don’t work

By: Graisg

Graisg — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 07:13:56 +0000

‘Personally I think we should legalise the lot, so we can control it.’
I think too that that is the only intelligent option left – drugs are illegal, but they are available if you want them.

By: Andrew Brown

Andrew Brown — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 08:23:52 +0000

The issue isn’t how much you buy – if you’re going to get 14 years for 5g then you may as well be hung for a wolf as a sheep – but what you’re supposed to be doing with it once you’ve got your stash.

These regulations put restrictions around the courts, in effect saying that magistrates and judges must consider people convicted of carrying these amounts to be dealers rather than just consumers of illegal substances.

There is a real issue that the law is trying to address – people carrying small quantities on their person and claiming the drug is for personal use when the suspicion is they’re dealing. The question is whether the way the law is framed is going to be effective.

If the government are going down this route I’d suggest that the original proposals were probably too generous and the current leaked amounts too low. However, it does seem like a very blunt instrument to try and get the legal system to treat drug dealing as something that needs tougher penalties.

By: Neil Harding

Neil Harding — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 01:53:04 +0000

This is to please the DM readers, to ‘send a message’ of tough on drugs. Re-emphasise that these drugs are illegal.

Personally I think we should legalise the lot, so we can control it. The dangerous aspect is leaving the supply in the hands of criminals, it is the variable quality of the hardest drugs that leads to overdose deaths. We could reduce the third of crime linked to drugs almost overnight.

But this macho madness will continue. It is going to take time to change attitudes on this.