Saw this on the news on the other day and it got me thinking. Police/law/medical types on here - would it work in practice?
Depends - aren’t we trying to ban smoking?
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It might work, it might not. It really depends on how it’s implemented and the details.
Decriminalising small quantities of personal use drugs I can fully get behind. Selling heroine and crack in WHSmiths I’m less keen on… there’s a balance to be had.
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I think I read somewhere from the Doctor who wrote the Greens drug policy that Class A drugs (or at least more potent drugs) would be kept behind an NHS prescription, akin to the pre-1971 CDA days
It’s basically what we already do with Methadone.
We lost the war on drugs, decades ago. Let’s legalise and tax it.
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I’ve also seen they’ve got that medical centre up in Scotland where you can legally take drugs - that sort of thing could/should be rolled out more widely I’d say - initial studies certainly prove good outcomes from it!
I’m in support of decrimilisation, not legalisation.
Trying weed as a 17 year old shouldn’t get you a custodial sentence but it shouldn’t be encouraged either. Smuggling and producing on the other hand should be priorities for the police
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It wouldn’t?
i thought possession was up to 5 years? or have there been guidelines against that?
Technically yes, it’s class B. But no one is going to prison for having a small amount of weed on them for personal use.
Nobody gets the maximum, to get 5 years for simple possession, without having any intent to supply any of it is practically impossible.
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The trouble is, there is an overlap into more critical areas, such as driving under the influence of drugs (define a “safe” standard) or operating potentially dangerous machinery, etc.
This isn’t the only study of course, but it does highlight some mental health issues.
It’s coming up to about 24 yrs since a linked family member took his own life; he was a regular cannabis user.
Let’s take the Singapore approach for dealing drugs…..
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We already do all of that for alcohol?
And we also already have set limits for driving over the specified limit of drugs. Plus driving whilst impaired. S4 vs S5A.
It’s no reason not to decriminalise.
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Which of course is never over-consumed for driving, etc…….
The only saving grace is that it’s relatively easy to spot someone / report them for drugs driving when they roll out of their car stinking of weed, or, they make a spliff up & start smoking it as they drive off!
Best ban alcohol then?
LIke tobacco products, the Government makes too much dosh from the revenue income!
It’s about £13B annually for booze, & £8B for tobacco. 
If I had to choose between legalising drugs and banning alcohol I would go for the second one.
A big part of the current problem and the reason the war on drugs is going so badly is that you have to be caught about 4 times before you face any real punishment (more than that if the first couple do times are as a kid).
50 hours community service for a second possession is something I would advocate (I would suggest the same for a second Drunk and Disorderly which also requires repeat offending before you get any actual punishment.
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Isn’t Portugal now the golden standard of what happens if you decriminalise and put those resources to better use to rehabilitate?
That’s the main reason I would be in favour of decriminalising. Plus in one move it takes out swathes of gangs, county lines, etc as rather than face the wrath of the police, they’re facing down HMRC who we generally like to stay on the right side of…
Except that’s not the experience of places where legalisation has taken place.
Instead you still see street dealing undercutting the legal market (who wants to pay tax?!), you see legal cannabis businesses being used to launder money for harder drugs, You still have illegal fries using slave Labour (as you do today).
Lots of those arguments don’t stand up to real world scrutiny.
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