If only our own political masters showed such courage. Instead, they are fighting their foolish war. It is one more reason for the disconnect between Westminster and the rest of the country: politicians who use and tax the lethal drug alcohol, cause of so many health and social problems, then binge on laws to lock up those who prefer less damaging stimulants.
We are led by a generation of politicians young enough to know better. Indeed, in one more measure of hypocrisy, many have used drugs themselves — just like many journalists on those papers demanding ever-tougher sanctions.
There is no need to cower behind the pusillanimous politics of prohibition. Listen to Bob Ainsworth, whose experiences as a Home Office minister turned him into the unlikeliest of drug campaigners: as he says, the public is far more progressive than politicians and sections of the press on this issue.
After 100 years of failure, it is time to be brave, take a deep breath — and declare peace in the ill-fated war on drugs.
