From The Metro:
A six-year study by the UK Drug Policy Commission showed most of the billions Britain spends annually tackling illegal drugs is not justified. For cannabis, the commission suggested that amending the law relating to the growing of it, at least for personal use, might go some way to ‘undermining the commercialisation of production’.
And so on and so forth.
The Home Office insisted its approach to tackling drugs is the right one. "Drug usage is at it lowest level since records began," a spokeswoman said.
That's one way of trying to measure the success or otherwise of a drugs policy, even though actual usage figures are largely guesswork. Problem is of course, that countries which legalised e.g. cannabis all saw a slight fall in consumption (to the extent it can be measured etc).
And no doubt Dame Ruth Runciman, chairwoman of this Commission will get Nutted in due course.
The eternal generality
34 minutes ago
8 comments:
The tractor stats are fabulous as well.
Well, the stats are guesswork, to be sure. However, it doesn't seem unreasonable to suggest that State interference in a market to increase the cost of production/distribution is likely to lead to supply and demand matching at a lower level of consumption (and a higher price).
Whether you think it is desirable to reduce drug consumption is another matter, but if that is your goal, then the current policies probably are working to some extent.
The effectiveness of drugs prohibition can be seen in this graph:
http://www.theagitator.com/2012/10/12/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-war-on-drugs/
Ross, gotta keep those Puritans happy!
WOAR,surely some of those statistics are halfway reliable, like the number of people charged?
AC, but other countries say, with regards to cannabis at least, that making it legal does not increase consumption. because frankly, most people don't like it. Most people don't even smoke tobacco.
R, that's a great graph! Thanks.
B, yes, and create jobs for coppers, counsellors, prison officers etc.
Why do we continue to separate drinks and drugs?
I wonder if binge drinking has gone up in the same period as drug taking has declined?
It's a fashion thing. Expect the results to reverse at some point in the future.
Coke snorting goes up, cranking scag goes down. Ecstasy goes down, donkey dust goes up.
People will never stop using/abusing chemicals. It's our birthright to do so.
BJ, well there's your mistake, binge drinking has NOT gone up. But yes, other drugs seem to come into and go out of fashion to some extent and replace each other.
(to the extent it can be measured etc)
And that's the crux.
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