Parliament debates drugs

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Way to go missing the point completely. With your high levels of observation and insight have you ever considered a job with the Met Police?

How many assaults, thefts and murders have there been over the last forty years of our war on drugs are directly attributable to the drugs trade?

A succession of governments have ignored the fact that there are other options that might reduce the associated crimes that go with the drugs trade. Just so they can say "we are tougher on crime than the opposition". It hasn't worked for the last forty years but hey fuck it lets try for another forty years of the same failed policies it might work eventually.

A lot more than you think. Theft offences to fund drug habits, violence offences when people lose their sense of reality. People found in possession should be given one chance of a drugs counsellor to kick their habit, second offence it should be jail time and forced off drugs
 


A lot more than you think. Theft offences to fund drug habits, violence offences when people lose their sense of reality. People found in possession should be given one chance of a drugs counsellor to kick their habit, second offence it should be jail time and forced off drugs
Totally agree, the fact that we don't enforce or prosecute drug laws/policy is a lot of the reason why the supposed 'war on drugs' has been less effective than it could be
 
A lot more than you think. Theft offences to fund drug habits, violence offences when people lose their sense of reality. People found in possession should be given one chance of a drugs counsellor to kick their habit, second offence it should be jail time and forced off drugs

Jail for possession? All your solution would do is fill even more prisons, all because of a lifestyle choice.

Totally agree, the fact that we don't enforce or prosecute drug laws/policy is a lot of the reason why the supposed 'war on drugs' has been less effective than it could be

The 'war on drugs' has failed because it hasn't stopped anyone who wants drugs from getting them. Being tougher on existing laws wouldn't have changed that.
 
That is the conundrum. It's not the government's fault that people are so dumb that they'll imbibe the contents of some chinaman's kitchen in the form of legal highs just to get some kind of hit because their poison of choice is unavailable or too expensive.

That said, it is a failed war in the approach the government uses. I would suggest a 'buffer court' system intended to get the help people need to sort their lives out with criminal proceedings being attatched later if that help isn't wanted. Let's not forget that drug use in the UK has decreased over the past decade by around 15%. I see too many people using cannabis on the way to work and even at work to want it decriminalized (and this includes high risk jobs such as the building trade) but there needs to be a half way house in effect for the good work to move forward.
I'm not sure where you get the figure of 15% from. Although drug use (all drugs) appears to have fallen, I thought the figures were a bit lower than that. Drug use has also fallen considerably in Portugal, where they decriminalised it 15 years ago. It would be interesting to see the expenditure on policing, prosecutions and punishments in this country compared to those in Portugal. They also now have lower health care related costs. We spend billions on the 'war on drugs', and effectively hand over the supply and control to criminal gangs. Is the money spent good value?
 
A lot more than you think. Theft offences to fund drug habits, violence offences when people lose their sense of reality. People found in possession should be given one chance of a drugs counsellor to kick their habit, second offence it should be jail time and forced off drugs

I was suggesting it was a huge number, so no, not more than I think.

As for the second bit; our prisons are overloaded now at a massive cost to the tax payer and there is a huge problem with drugs inside the prisons already. Locking more people up for possession won't work (it hasn't so far has it) and will just increase the costs to the tax payer. Repeating the same failed policies will change nothing.
 
I'm not sure where you get the figure of 15% from. Although drug use (all drugs) appears to have fallen, I thought the figures were a bit lower than that. Drug use has also fallen considerably in Portugal, where they decriminalised it 15 years ago. It would be interesting to see the expenditure on policing, prosecutions and punishments in this country compared to those in Portugal. They also now have lower health care related costs. We spend billions on the 'war on drugs', and effectively hand over the supply and control to criminal gangs. Is the money spent good value?
I got off a tour bus in Lisbon and within 15 seconds some horrible kernt offered me drugs in the full view of women and children.
Amsterdam is the seediest place I've ever visited .
I realise there is plenty of drugs knocking about here but at least you have to go actively looking for it.
No I'm happy with the way things are with the possible exception of heroin which I can just about accept being given via prescription to those on drug rehab
 
I got off a tour bus in Lisbon and within 15 seconds some horrible kernt offered me drugs in the full view of women and children.
Amsterdam is the seediest place I've ever visited .
I realise there is plenty of drugs knocking about here but at least you have to go actively looking for it.
No I'm happy with the way things are with the possible exception of heroin which I can just about accept being given via prescription to those on drug rehab
Depends where you live. there are plenty of opportunities to be offered drugs in the street in this country. Amsterdam is one of the nicest places I've visited - perhaps you went to the wrong area :)
You're basically 'happy' with the control and supply of drugs being handed over to criminal gangs.
 
People still assault, rape and murder others, should we class those as failed wars and turn a blind eye?

If we were pursuing policies that were actively increasing the number of crimes being committed and the amount of harm caused to people and society by those crimes, while pumping huge amounts of money into the pockets of criminals enabling them to commit more crimes and leaving less money and resources available to fight crime, I'd expect the government to have a think about alternatives that would actually reduce crime instead.
 
Clearly the solution isnt to sit on their collective arses and do nothing. Something has to be done. I'm a staunch opponent of illegal drug use but even I'm coming round to the idea of decriminalising it to a degree. Clearly we dont want loads of f***ing druggies wandering the streets (better to keep them on here ;)) but the current situation is untenable.
 
Jail for possession? All your solution would do is fill even more prisons, all because of a lifestyle choice.



The 'war on drugs' has failed because it hasn't stopped anyone who wants drugs from getting them. Being tougher on existing laws wouldn't have changed that.

An illegal lifestyle choice though. Some people choose a lifestyle of burglary should we ignore those?
 
Ah right, so if they were made legal, like say alcohol, you wouldnt have a problem with it.

Alcohol causes a lot of problems but is legal to cosume, obviously withing current laws. Not many alcoholics go out stealing to fund their habit

If drugs were made legal i would have a moral issue with it yes but not a legal one
 
Alcohol causes a lot of problems but is legal to cosume, obviously withing current laws. Not many alcoholics go out stealing to fund their habit

If drugs were made legal i would have a moral issue with it yes but not a legal one

Why would you have a moral issue with legal drugs? Do you have a moral issue with alcohol?
 
Which is why I had a lot of sympathy for Blair - he knew Iraq was hugely unpopular, but he stuck by God's opinion - whether you think it was right or wrong - the easy thing to do would have been to ignore what God believed to be true.
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