The best social reform starts on the frontline. The news that the National Police Chiefs’ Council has decided to effectively decriminalise cannabis and cocaine in England is, for drugs reformers, sensational. It intends to extend nationwide the warning and treatment schemes that have already been piloted in Durham and Thames Valley. Instead of prosecuting users of hard drugs such as heroin, cocaine and ecstasy, officers will recommend addiction services (dealers, and those who refuse to cooperate, will still be prosecuted). So far, these schemes have been hugely effective in stopping reoffending and saving police time. This move flatly challenges the home secretary, Suella Braverman, who told the recent Tory conference she intended to take a hardline approach to drug offences. The government wants a “three strikes and you’re out” policy that would see drug users banned from driving and losing their passports. This is pure politics, not harm reduction.
In every sense, the “war on drugs” initiated by Edward Heath’s government in the early 1970s has failed. British cannabis consumption is at its highest point since 2007, with one in 12 adults admitting to using the drug. Scotland has the highest rate of deaths from drug use in Europe. Meanwhile, the prosecution of arrested drug offenders is falling due to sheer overstretch. This is legalisation by stealth.
