16
London-News
February 2014
Nick Clegg: Britain
must join debate on
new approach to war
on drugs
Deputy PM angry at
Tory refusal to
debate alternatives
and says: 'If you are
anti-drugs, you
should be pro-reform'
Nick Clegg has dragged the case for reforming
the drugs laws to the centre ground of British
politics, saying that blanket prohibition has
seen cocaine use triple in less than 20 years, a
trend that has helped perpetuate conflict and
violence in South America.
Writing in today's Observer, after a week in
which he visited Colombia to learn first-hand
the devastating effects that Europe's
enthusiasm for cocaine has had on the country,
Clegg said the UK needed to be at the heart of
the debate about potential alternatives to
blanket prohibition and that he wanted to see
an end to "the tradition where politicians only
talk about drugs reform when they have left
office because they fear the political
consequences".
The deputy prime minister said such an
approach "has stifled debate and inhibited a
proper examination of our approach. Put
simply, if you are anti-drugs, you should be
pro-reform".
His comments will be seen by some observers
as politically expedient, designed to distance
the Lib Dems from the Tories in the runup to
the next election. In his article, Clegg
expresses his frustration "at my coalition
partner's refusal to engage in a proper
discussion about the drugs problem".
In some of the most outspoken comments on
the issue by a serving British politician, Clegg
laments the current situation in which "one in
five young people have admitted taking drugs
in the last year", and "cocaine use has more
than trebled since 1996" and claims that
"every time someone dies of an overdose it
should shame our political class".
Looking to 2016, when the UN is due to hold
a meeting to discuss potential reform of its
prohibitionist drug conventions, Clegg states:
"The UN drug conventions badly need
revising. I want European countries to work
together to agree a common position in favour
of reform to take to that discussion in 2016.
The UK can lead the debate in Europe and
Europe can lead the debate in the world. But
we must be prepared to start afresh with a new
mindset and be prepared to do things
differently."
His intervention comes as a growing number
of US states move towards a regulated trade in
marijuana, and at a time when increasing
numbers of Latin American countries have
Pics: Erem Kansoy/Archive
stated that the war on drugs doesn't work and
are demanding that the world consider
alternative approaches.
During his visit, Clegg met the country's
president, Juan Manuel Santos, as well as
former paramilitaries, guerrillas and human
rights representatives. "All were clear about
the central role of the drugs trade in
perpetuating conflict and violence and the
need to build a better future," Clegg says.
"Many people in Britain and the rest of Europe
will be unaware of the impact drug use in
western nations has on countries on the
frontline of the drugs trade."
Reiterating his call for a royal commission on
Britain's drugs laws, Clegg says future
legislation should be based on "what works,
not guesswork". The Lib Dems are conducting
a review of international alternatives which
will produce what Clegg claims is "the first
proper UK government report examining
different approaches in other countries".
It is clear the deputy prime minister believes
there is a need for politicians of all parties to
confront an issue in a non-partisan way if the
harm caused by drugs is ever to be tackled
successfully.
"If Britain were fighting a war where 2,000
people died every year, where increasing
numbers of our young people were recruited
by the enemy and our opponents were always
a step ahead, there would be outcry and loud
calls for change," Clegg says. "Yet this is
exactly the situation with the so-called "war
on drugs" and for far too long we have resisted
a proper debate about the need for a different
strategy."
His comments, which will dismay those who
believe change will encourage drug taking,
were warmly received by pro-reform
campaigners.
"Bad drug policies have an international
impact, whether it's black market related
violence or borderless health crises," said
Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, director of the
Open Society Global Drug Policy Foundation.
"So charting a new course is the job of every
country. A number of European countries
developed great health services for people
who use drugs but far less attention has been
paid to the issues faced by producer and transit
countries." Source: theguardian.com Jamie
Doward The Observer.