Letter: Ainsworth was partially right with legalise drugs call
Thursday 30th December 2010, 5:08AM GMT.
Letter: Former minister Bob Ainsworth was partially correct in calling for the legalisation of narcotics.
Hard drugs are a growing problem in the UK and the authorities are failing to contain their influence.
The spate of car crime in Malinslee which has spoilt Christmas for many is probably heroin-related.
It is a terribly addictive substance but problems with addicts only really begin when they cannot fund their habits.
We could tackle numerous problems all at once if we sourced the drug from poor Afghan farmers and issued it on prescription.
Although the situation couldn’t get any worse than it already is, advisors appear to believe such a move would be politically unpopular with a largely ignorant electorate.
It’s easier to denigrate Mr Ainsworth for speaking out on the issue.
Bob Jenkins
Stirchley
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hear hear!
When heroin was given to addicts they were objects of pity, not glamorous criminals to be emulated by the young ones.
It would save untold misery if we were to start just giving them it. But the Daily Mail will be up in arms at the very suggestion, as the letter writer points out, from a position of complete ignorance.
The war on drugs has failed and the sooner the tabloid press stop brainwashing the unwashed masses the better.
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Firstly, I think the author of the letter makes a fair point and I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I too have been the victim of car theft and I sympathise with any victim of crime.
Alternatives such as Naltraxeone, Methadone and subutex are available on prescription. I’m not wholly convinced that providing drug users with more drugs will stop crime. As many offences (and usually more serious offences) are committed when the offender is under the influence of drugs as opposed to illegally obtaining funds. I say more serious offences because their consequential thinking isn’t as it should be compared to someone who is clean.
I don’t have a solution for the problem but I hope one comes along soon.
I should say I work in the Criminal Justice System; I am not a drug user myself!
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Mr Ainsworth aside we have seen this before. Professor David Nutt ran a lengthy in depth study into physical and social aspects of substance use only to have his learned opinion dismissed not once but twice. Once by Jacqui Smith and again by Allan Johnson.
This sets a far more dangerous precedent as now the advisory council set up to scientifically report on such matters are publicly discredited for political gain, then they are far less likely to offer their services in the future. As we have seen they are leaving in droves. They are either publicly lambasted by the politicians for not agreeing with their political ambitions, or lambasted by their peers for undermining their own professional integrity.
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Just hang them when caught, they die anyway in the end.
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