Drugs - Facing Facts
The Royal Society of Arts (RSA) says UK drug law has been "driven by moral panic" and is "not fit for purpose."
Following calls on this blog a couple of days ago for a new approach to dealing with the drug problem at its origin, it was a welcome start to the day to hear the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith on the Today programme, who said the report was "worryingly complacent." While the RSA calls for a switch in emphasis from criminalising offenders to harm reduction, Duncan Smith said we need to go further, learning from what has succeeded in other countries and focusing on rehabilitation.
The RSA Commission on Illegal Drugs, Communities and Public Policy also recommends replacing the Misuse of Drugs Act with a broader Misuse of Substances Act and substituting the existing ABC classification system of drugs with an "index of harms," similar to that proposed by the Commons Science Select Committee last year, which would include alcohol and tobacco.
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The "index of harms" drugs proposal reported on two weeks ago is back in the news again today: Alcohol worse than ecstasy on shock new drug list
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