Government to rethink its 2010 drugs policy.

[SanjC]

It has been announced that the Home Affairs Select Committee is to launch a new inquiry into the current drugs strategy, a policy only put into place a year ago!

 

There appears to be a growing belief that the current policy of prohibition has failed to achieve the desired objectives. Specifically, the committee will review

• The extent to which the Government’s 2010 drug strategy is a ‘fiscally responsible policy with strategies grounded in science, health, security and human rights’ in line with the recent recommendation by the Global Commission on Drug Policy
  
• The criteria used by the Government to measure the efficacy of its drug policies
  
• The independence and quality of expert advice which is being given to the government
  
• Whether drug-related policing and expenditure is likely to decrease in line with police budgets and what impact this may have
  
• The cost effectiveness of different policies to reduce drug usage
  
• The extent to which public health considerations should play a leading role in developing drugs policy
  
• The relationship between drug and alcohol abuse
  
• The comparative harm and cost of legal and illegal drugs
  
• The impact of the transfer of functions of the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse to Public Health England and how this will affect the provision of treatment
  
• The availability of ‘legal highs’ and the challenges associated with adapting the legal framework to deal with new substances
  
• The links between drugs, organised crime and terrorism
  
• Whether the UK is supporting its global partners effectively and what changes may occur with the introduction of the national crime agency
  
• Whether detailed consideration ought to be given to alternative ways of tackling the drugs dilemma, as recommended by the Select Committee in 2002 (The Government's Drugs Policy: Is It Working?, HC 318, 2001–02) and the Justice Committee’s 2010 Report on justice reinvestment (Cutting crime: the case for justice reinvestment, HC 94, 2009–10).”
  

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/home-affairs-committee/news/drugs-call-for-ev/

 

The committee has asked for written evidence to be submitted by groups and individuals who wish to inform the inquiry.

 

Will anyone be submitting any evidence? I Know I will be.

 

Do people think this is a step in the right direction?

 

Do people think their communities in Sheffield have been protected from the harms of drugs thanks to prohibition?

 

Would a change in policy bring greater or less control over the supply and availability of all substances?

[fake]

They are not rethinking just having yet another inquiry that the Government will ignore as usual.

[chem1st]

Drugs tourism is something we should be seriously looking at to boost the economy, cannabis cafes in particular.

 

Would you rather bump into a drunk or a stoner down a dark alley, or even on the high st.?

[speedy69]

Drugs tourism is something we should be seriously looking at to boost the economy, cannabis cafes in particular.

 

Would you rather bump into a drunk or a stoner down a dark alley, or even on the high st.?

 

Good call, and not a mention of social housing!