Pubdate: Fri, 09 Mar 2007 Source: Mirror, The (UK) Copyright: 2007 The Mirror Contact: http://www.mirror.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1161 Author: Bob Roberts, Deputy Political Editor Note: See The RSA Commission on Illegal Drugs, Communities and Public Policy website http://www.rsadrugscommission.org and the 335 page report as a .pdf file at http://www.rsa.org.uk/acrobat/rsa_drugs_report.pdf Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) WAR ON DRUGS POURING MONEY DOWN DRAIN TONY Blair's war on drugs is a waste of money and effort that does more harm than good, says a high-powered study. The RSA Commission insists booze and fags should be included in a new law which must focus on the harm all intoxicants do - legal or illegal - - rather than the crimes being committed. It claims the Government is pouring cash down the drain trying to stop drugs flooding into Britain and says the money could pay for better treatment for addicts. The report adds: "It is not possible to halt the importation and sale of drugs in this country. "Large amounts of money are wasted in attempting to achieve the impossible. Drugs policy should, like that on alcohol and tobacco, seek to regulate use and prevent harm rather than prohibit use. "Policy should be measured not in terms of the amount of dealers imprisoned, but in the amount of harm reduced." The RSA group, headed by ex-No 10 aide Matthew Taylor, said current laws with harsh jail terms for possession were "driven by moral panic". The lead role in drugs policy should be taken from the Home Office and handed to local authorities. Charity DrugScope said: "There's too great an emphasis on drugs being a problem solely associated with crime." But former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith branded the paper "worryingly complacent" because it did not "survey the views of drug addicts". The Campaigner: Time to End Rule of the Gangsters AS the RSA drugs report clearly shows, it is the prohibition of drugs - - like that with alcohol in the US in the 1920s - that has spawned many of the problems related to drug use and supply. They include the multi-billion pound market gifted to organised criminals and the UKP16billion crime costs resulting from making heroin and cocaine illegal. In 2002 the Home Affairs Select Committee enquiry into UK drug policy called on the Government to start a discussion about "alternative ways - - including legalisation and regulation - to tackle the global drugs dilemma". Hasn't the time now come to hold a public debate on whether our current drug prohibition is working any better than the alcohol prohibition of Al Capone's day? Aren't we now adult enough to discuss whether a legally regulated drug trade would work better than our gangster-run market? We think we are. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake