THE TELEGRAPH: Personal drug use should be legalised, the leader of the country’s barristers has suggested.
Nicholas Green QC, the chairman of the Bar Council for England and Wales, said it was “rational” to consider “decriminalising personal drug use”.
Taking such a step would save the economy billions of pounds – drug-related crime costs the economy £13billion a year - free up police time, cut crime and improve public health.
However campaigners and MPs rounded on the remarks, made in a newsletter to barristers, saying it sent out the wrong message on drug use.
Mr Green, who runs body which the 4,500 criminal and defence barristers, said: “A growing body of comparative evidence suggests that decriminalising personal use can have positive consequences.
“It can free up huge amounts of police resources, reduce crime and recidivism and improve public health. All this can be achieved without any overall increase in drug usage. If this is so, then it would be rational to follow suit.”
Mr Green, who has made his name primarily as an expert in competition law and arbitration issues, said the Council was apolitical and could speak out in favour policies “which work and not those which simply play to the gallery.
"And this will save money and mean that there is less pressure on the justice system.” >>> Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor | Tuesday, July 20, 2010
What a ridiculous suggestion! What do we want? The streets full of stoned people? How sensible a suggestion can this be at the very time that smokers of tobacco have been all but criminalized? Are we to eliminate one bad habit and replace it with another one which is far, far worse? I would be the last person to sing the praises of smoking cigarettes, smoking is an unhealthy habit, but it’s a damn site better than taking drugs. Common sense, it seems, has been thrown out of the window. – © Mark
