Pubdate: Sat, 16 Mar 2002
Source: East Anglian Daily Times (UK)
Copyright: 2002 Eastern Counties Newspapers Group Ltd
Contact:  http://www.eadt.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/913

EDUCATION NEEDED FOR DRUG USERS

RICHARD Brunstrom, the Chief Constable of North Wales, believes there 
should be a major rethink on drugs crime.

"if you're not mugging old ladies and not stealing from shops, and 
not stealing cars, what actually is the problem?" he asked.

"We have the harshest drug laws in Europe and by far the worst drug 
abuse problem," he said. "We are losing the war... and we must look 
at other alternatives."

He appears to have a valid point, but is conveniently ignoring the 
fact that drug abuse is not merely a criminal problem, and that petty 
crime, driven by the need to finance addiction, is by no means its 
only side effect.

A Government-commissioned report published yesterday recommended that 
cannabis be downgraded from a Class B to a Class C drug. This falls 
far short of decriminalisation.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) said that while 
recommending the downgrading, it was not saying cannabis was harmless.

"Cannabis is associated with some risks to health."

This is why the use of the drug has always been discouraged by the 
law, and why many people strongly believe that the law should 
continue to discourage its use.

If it is true, as Mr Brunstrom and others believe, that the war has 
been lost, simply throwing in the towel, and effectively encouraging 
young people to abuse the drug more, would be the worst possible 
response.

The ACMD called for the dangers associated with the use of the drug 
to be widely publicised.

The Home Office has yet to decide whether to act on the ACMD's 
recommendations and change the law on cannabis.

But whether it does or not, there is an urgent need to address the 
health education issue. Cannabis users must be stopped from "mugging 
old ladies."

They must also be discouraged from ruin-mg their own health.
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MAP posted-by: Josh