UK - Police chief issues call to decriminalise cannabis and redirect resources

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edgarshade

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Mark Townsend, home affairs editor
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 18 September 2010 22.03 BST

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/sep/18/police-chief-decriminalise-cannabis

'One of Britain's most senior police officers has proposed decriminalising the personal use of drugs such as cannabis to allow more resources to be dedicated to tackling high-level dealers.

Tim Hollis, chief constable of Humberside police, said the criminal justice system could offer only a "limited" solution to the UK's drug problem, a tacit admission that prohibition has failed.

Hollis's dramatic intervention comes as the government is reviewing its 10-year drug strategy amid growing warnings from experts that prohibition does not deter drug use and that decriminalisation would liberate precious police resources and cut crime.'


'Both David Cameron and Nick Clegg are on record as questioning the effectiveness of Britain's drug laws.

Officially the Home Office insists decriminalisation is not the right approach and there is clear evidence cannabis can damage mental health. Insiders, however, have told the Observer that officials are looking at "non-prosecution" strategies. The government has recently studied Portugal's approach in which the authorities have discreetly decriminalised the use and possession of substances including heroin.'
 
UK - London Evening Standard - Drugs and yet another half-baked solution

Sam Leith
20.09.10

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23879990-drugs-and-yet-another-half-baked-solution.do

'Tim Hollis, the chief constable of Humberside, was reported yesterday to be calling for soft drugs to be decriminalised — arguing that resources should be concentrated on catching dealers rather than end-users.

On the face of it, this sounds sensible. If our drugs laws have a purpose, it's to reduce the harm drugs do in our society. Giving a teenager a criminal record for smoking dope is likely to do more harm to his life-chances than the dope itself — and at considerable public cost. Serious dealers are more likely to be mixed up in organised crime, and by nabbing a dealer you interrupt the supply, at least temporarily, to a number of users.

So, yes, Mr Hollis's proposal sounds sensible: but only in the context of a system of prohibition that is simply bonkers in the first place. “Let's decriminalise drugs so that we can concentrate on catching the criminals who deal them.” Any guesses as to what's wrong with that sentence? Drugs can't be half-illegal any more than you can be half-pregnant.

It simply does not make sense, either morally or practically, to criminalise supply at the same time as you liberalise demand. It's like trying to rid your house of mice by scattering cheese all over the place and wandering from room to room with a tennis racquet.'
 
edgarshade said:
.It's like trying to rid your house of mice by scattering cheese all over the place and wandering from room to room with a tennis racquet.'
Click to expand...

Terrible analogy. Mice do not generally eat cheese, preferring grain or fruits instead.

The media just love perpetuating myths as fact.
 
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