Pubdate: Sun, 20 Jan 2013 Source: Daily Express (UK) Copyright: 2013 Northern and Shell Media Publications Contact: http://www.express.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/145 Author: Camilla Tominey PENALISING DRUG-USERS IS CRIMINAL BARONESS Meacher has been lambasted for suggesting that youngsters switch from alcohol to "safer" drugs but the statistics suggest she makes a good point. Official estimates show there have been 200 deaths linked to Ecstasy here since 1996. That is about 12 deaths a year, or one a month. Between 2009 and 2010 there were 8,790 alcohol-related deaths. That is 732 a month. Meanwhile, on average, smoking kills 80,000 every year. Just because it is more socially acceptable, drinking is by no means a safer pastime for teenagers than taking drugs. In an ideal world, it would be better if they did neither but, as the saying goes, "kids will be kids". (Both are illegal to under 18s but that does not stop them). At least Meacher, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Drug policy Reform, is not in denial like so many politicians. The Prime Minister, who has never been brave enough to admit to taking drugs in the past ("I did a lot of things before I came into politics that I shouldn't have done, we all did." David Cameron, September 2005) continues to resist decriminalisation despite all the evidence pointing to it being a good idea. Why? Because he knows it will be a vote loser among a middle-class that has been hysterical about drugs since Leah Betts died in 1995. Although I credit that picture of Leah in a coma with putting me off hard drugs for life, it created a number of misconceptions about Ecstasy. A subsequent inquest found that the 18-year-old did not die from taking the drug but as a result of the 1d gallons of water she drank in the 90 minutes afterwards. This led to water intoxication and hyponatremia, which caused serious swelling of her brain, from which she never recovered. One death from drugs is too many but let's put it into perspective: it is nowhere near as big a problem as binge drinking in Britain. Moreover, since when did you hear of A&E departments being choked with youngsters drugging out on a Friday night or police being called to an Ecstasy-related incident? Meacher, who is calling for the possession and use of heroin, Ecstasy and crack cocaine to be decriminalised, wants licences to be issued to chemists to sell so-called "legal highs". She told Radio 4's Today programme last week: "If young people are going to buy these things, is it not better that they know exactly what is in them and that they won't be contaminated?" Yes, it is. The same should apply to cannabis. If teenagers are going to smoke spliffs, surely it is preferable that the super skunk associated with psychosis is properly weeded out (pardon the pun)? DECRIMINALISATION is not the same as legalising drugs. Drugs are not legal in Portugal, where decriminalisation was introduced in 2001. Instead it has a system of not penalising drug users who enter special programmes designed to end their habit. The policy has proved a resounding success. Portugal now boasts the lowest rate (10 per cent) of lifetime marijuana use in people over 15 in the EU. The rate of HIV infections caused by sharing dirty needles has also declined while the number of people seeking treatment for addiction has more than doubled. It has saved the government money because treatment is cheaper than incarceration. Last week the British Medical Association called on the Government to put "health" at the heart of its future drugs policy, warning that criminalisation was deterring users from seeking help. If that is the case, what is the point of jailing drug-users? The money would be better spent on weaning addicts off drugs for good and properly educating teenagers not only of the dangers of drugs but the comparative damage done by binge drinking. It is time to stop scaremongering and let the figures speak for themselves. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D