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LIB DEMS PROMISE LEGAL
CANNABIS MARKET
THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS have made a manifesto
commitment to decriminalise the possession of illegal
drugs for personal use and introduce a ‘legal, regulated’
market for cannabis. The latter would ‘break the grip’ of
criminal gangs and raise £1bn in annual tax revenues,
says their manifesto document, which also pledges to
repeal the controversial Psychoactive Substances Act.
Anyone arrested for possession of drugs for personal
use would either be diverted into treatment and
education as part of a ‘health-based approach’ or be
subject to ‘civil penalties’, says Change Britain’s future,
with the authorities concentrating instead on those who
import, deal or manufacture illegal drugs. The
Psychoactive Substances Act would be repealed as it has
‘driven the sale of formerly legal highs underground’,
while the departmental lead on drug policy would be
moved from the Home Office to the Department of
Health. The party would also introduce minimum pricing
for alcohol, it says, ‘subject to the final outcome of the
legal challenge in Scotland’.
The proposed regulated cannabis market would
‘introduce limits on potency’ and allow cannabis to be
sold via licensed outlets to people over 18, the document
states. The party previously commissioned an expert
panel chaired by Transform’s Steve Rolles to produce a
report looking at how such a market could work in
practice (DDN, April 2016, page 4), and last month Liberal
Democrat health spokesperson Norman Lamb wrote in
DDN that the war on drugs was ‘a completely stupid
approach’ (DDN, May, page 10).
‘The war on drugs has been a catastrophic failure,’ says
the party’s manifesto. ‘Every year, billions flow to
organised crime while we needlessly prosecute and
imprison thousands of people, blighting their
employment and life chances, and doing nothing to
address the impact of drugs on their health.’
While the Lib Dems also state they would replace
police and crime commissioners (PCCs) – ‘elected at great
expense in elections with very low turnout’ – with
accountable police boards made up of local councillors,
the Conservatives’ manifesto says that they would widen
the role of PCCs to include having them sit on local health
the proposed regulated
cannabis market would
‘introduce limits on potency’
and allow cannabis to be
sold via licensed outlets to
people over 18.
and wellbeing boards to enable ‘better co-ordination of
crime prevention with local drug and alcohol and mental
health services’.
Perhaps predictably the Conservative document,
Forward together, largely approaches the issue of
substance misuse from a law and order perspective,
stating that the party would create a national community
sentencing framework to include measures such as
‘curfews and orders that tackle drug and alcohol abuse’,
as current community punishments ‘do not do enough to
prevent crime and break the cycle of persistent offending’.
However, it also pledges to address the issue of racial
disparity in police stop and searches, saying that the
Conservatives would ‘legislate to mandate changes in
police practices if “stop and search” does not become
more targeted and “stop to arrest” ratios do not improve’.
Labour’s manifesto, For the many not the few,
promises to ‘implement a strategy for the children of
alcoholics based on recommendations drawn up by
independent experts’ and states that prison ‘should never
be a substitute for failing mental health services, or the
withdrawal of funding from drug treatment centres’, but
otherwise contains little on drug policy issues. ‘Labour
should be the party that shouts the loudest about the
need for drug reform,’ said treatment adviser at the
Volteface think tank, Paul North. ‘Their political ideology
should see drug reform as an opportunity to stand out
from the rest of the field.’
Manifestos at www.libdems.org.uk,
www.conservatives.com, www.labour.org.uk
‘there can be real
consequen c es to
over stating evi d -
ence or implying
certainty when
there isn’t any.’
CLare MurPHy
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
PREGNANT PAUSE
TELLING WOMEN that small quantities of
alcohol during pregnancy can cause irreparable
damage to a developing foetus causes need -
less anxiety and has ‘no basis in evidence’,
according to the British Pregnancy Advisory
Service (BPAS). Although the chief medical
officer’s advice to pregnant women was
revised last year to avoiding alcohol altogether
(DDN, February 2016, page 4), there is ‘no
robust evidence’ that isolated episodes of
binge drinking – including before a pregnancy
POOR DEAL
POORER PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER
alcohol-related ill-health than the better off
even when drinking similar amounts,
according to a study published in The Lancet.
‘Low socioeconomic status was associated
consistently with strikingly raised alcohol-
attributable harms, including after
adjustment for weekly consumption, binge
drinking, BMI, and smoking,’ says the
resea rch, which is based on a sample of more
than 50,000 people. Socioeconomic status as
an effect modifier of alcohol consumption and
harm at www.thelancet.com
PURITY PROBLEMS
INCREASES IN DRUG PURITY have led to a 50
per cent rise in A&E admissions for UK cocaine
users since 2015, according to this year’s Global
drug survey. The survey also reveals increased
use levels for ketamine, nitrous oxide and LSD,
as well as more people reporting buying drugs
from the ‘dark web’. 'This year’s study shows
that increased drug purity is leading to a surge
in admissions to A&E departments across the
UK,’ said report author Dr Adam Winstock. ‘We
need to educate users about purity levels and
the impact that they have on their bodies,’
www.globaldrugsurvey.com
‘opium production
could be up by more
than 40 per cent.’
WEIGHTY ISSUES
THE AREA UNDER POPPY CULTIVATION in
Afghanistan is expanding, according to
UNODC’s latest survey. The total cultivation
area in 2016 increased by 10 per cent on the
previous year, meaning that potential opium
production could be up by more than 40 per
cent – to as much as 4,800 tons. Afghanistan
opium survey report at www.unodc.org
is confirmed – causes long-term damage, says
BPAS. ‘There can be real consequences to
overstating evidence or implying certainty
when there isn’t any,’ said director of external
affairs Clare Murphy. ‘Doing so can cause
women needless anxiety and alarm – some -
times to the point that they consider ending an
unplanned but not unwanted pregnancy
because of fears they have caused irreparable
harm. But just as importantly, it assumes
women cannot be trusted to understand risk,
and when it comes to alcohol, the difference
between low and heavy consumption.’
June 2017 | drinkanddrugsnews | 5