Pubdate: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 Source: Evening Leader (UK) Copyright: 2007 North Wales Newspapers Ltd Contact: http://www.eveningleader.co.uk/contactus.aspx Website: http://www.eveningleader.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4583 Author: Sarah Park Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Richard+Brunstrom Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) VIEWS ON THE DRUG DEBATE North Wales Police Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom has prodded the sleeping giant that is the legalising drugs debate, an issue we are still no closer as a society to tackling. The outcome is usually that that we talk about it and then ignore it, because no-one seems to have an answer. On the one hand it is ridiculous to criminalise people who, after a bad day at work, choose to snort a line of coke in their own homes. It is equally pointless throwing drug addicts into jail, when they clearly need help for their addiction and the underlying problems that led to them becoming addicted in the first place. Last week, I met three drug addicts. I am ashamed to say that I expected them to be vacant, unintelligible and inarticulate. I suppose I expected to find three 'stoners' who wanted nothing more out of life that to get, well, stoned. What I found were three articulate and opinionated young people who, through individual and very different circumstances, found themselves addicted to drugs. What was frightening was that it was the clubbing scene that introduced one of the men to drugs. I was in that very same scene, like thousands of other youngsters. A different set of decisions and friends and it could have been him interviewing me. Obviously, they all agreed with the chief constable that drugs should be made legal, but not just so people can take drugs and not get nicked. They want to see the decriminalisation of drugs so addicts don't have to hang around alleyways, so addicts aren't taking drugs that are cut with impurities. None of them said that, if made legal, they should be available in the way alcohol is available. One of the men who takes drugs is a tee-totaler. He asked me if I drank alcohol and the truth is that for me, and millions of other people, alcohol is a big part of our lives. He asked why his choice of drug should make him a criminal and not me. And he has a point. Rightly or wrongly I enjoy my glass of wine at the end of the day, and I certainly wouldn't expect to end up in jail for drinking it. Why should he? - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake