I don’t know why but it’s somehow satisfying to see issues I blogged about when it was off the radar suddenly hit the front-pages some time later!
And so it is with the question of legalising cannabis. It’s the Mail on Sunday’s front page (you can catch the full story here).
The paper reports:
Britain is losing the war on drugs and should consider the radical option of legalisation, a powerful committee of MPs will argue this week.
Details of the report will not be revealed until its publication tomorrow, but it is understood that it will call on the Prime Minister to establish a Royal Commission on drugs to report in time for the next General Election in 2015.
Their report follows the controversial decision by two American states, Washington and Colorado, to decriminalise cannabis – a move expected to be copied widely throughout the US.
In my blog last month I argued keeping cannabis illegal was an unmitigated failure in every sense and that legalisation was the only answer.
To quote myself (how indulgent!):
What is clear is that prohibition doesn’t work. I believe the arguments for keeping marijuana illegal are much weaker than those in favour of decriminalising or legalising it, and what damage the herb does do is almost entirely the result of it being illegal in the first place.
The fact that Washington, Oregon and Colorado are holding votes on legalisation is a reflection of a growing consensus that America’s “war on drugs” is counter-productive, expensive and ultimately an unmitigated failure. Last year the Global Commission on Drug Policy reported that opiates, cocaine and cannabis had all increased during a decade-long war on drugs. The only winners in the war are the drug lords.
Even if you believe such substances should remain illegal it is clear the current strategy is nowhere near achieving its’ aims. It is much more likely to imprison ordinary people using for recreational drugs than catch the traffickers at the top of the chain.
If we want otherwise law-abiding citizens to associate with hardened criminals then keeping cannabis illegal is the way to go. It’s like outlawing coffee and forcing housewives to seek their caffeine fix from a guy who also tries to get them hooked on heroin and cocaine.
You can also watch the Vox TV debate on the issue here, where I debated with three experts.
I look forward to reading the report tomorrow, but it seems that a Royal Commission is a way of putting off a political decision.
Royal Commission’s are fine when dealing with an issue where there hasn’t been enough studies but cannabis has been studied to death.
The question of how to frame a law to make it work is worth exploring but if the question is ‘what do we do about cannabis?’, there is enough evidence for politicians to form a view.
We’ll wait for the report tomorrow, it will make interesting reading.
By Lester Holloway @brolezholloway