BEFORE joining the Global Commission On Drugs I felt, as many Mirror readers do, that since drugs are dangerous it was best for society to punish anyone who used them.
Now having spent 18 months with commissioners Kofi Annan, George Schultz, Paul Volker, the Prime Minister of Greece and eight former presidents examining the facts, each of us decided it was better to treat those who use drugs as a health problem, rather than a criminal problem.
The commission learnt that the current approach to the war on drugs had completely failed. We found those countries like Portugal and Switzerland who didn’t send their young to prison for taking drugs but offered them help instead managed to dramatically reduce the overall level of problematic drug use.
By setting up clinics where heroin users can go to get clean needles and methadone (and get help when they’re ready for it) Portugal reduced the number of users by 50% and the number of new cases of HIV (from dirty needles) by 50%. The number of cannabis users is now the lowest in Europe.
I do understand why Mirror readers would worry when they read the words “celebrities call for drugs to be decriminalised”. They perhaps picture going into their local supermarket and seeing addicts queuing up to buy their next fix.
This is not what the commission is advocating. It is not what is happening in countries such as Portugal.
What they are doing is proving that by decriminalising drug use, they can win the war a lot more effectively.
By helping user, rather than demonising them, I believe we will see real changes within our society and real decreases in the number of users – and, in turn, a reduction in cost to the taxpayer.
