You see I take a different view. I think it should all be legalised. The main issue with any form of drug use is the polycriminality that exists around it - and the quite mind-blowing amount of money it costs in tax payer money to police it all. I also work in law enforcement, specifically modern slavery and organised immigration crime, so am completely aware of the human cost.
However - prohibition NEVER works and the sooner people accept this the better. There has never ever been a human on this earth who has debated in their mind whether or not to take drugs - and the ‘deciding factor’ against doing , being ‘because it’s illegal’ . If people are going to take them , they will find a source. Illegality isn’t even a tiny consideration.
From an economic perspective, we as a country are missing a trick. Consider the gazillions of £££££ we spend on trying to prevent people trying to get hold of drugs? In my office alone (provincial town) we have 14 police officers varying ranks on the county lines team alone. 15 on my MSHT/OIC team. That close on £1m before overtime in ONE police area . Multiply that across the country . Then add in the National Crime Agency. The security services etc. The cost is mind blowing and the worst part is that the exploitation and coercion (esp county lines) is happening BECAUSE drugs are illegal and this creates a space for criminals to flourish and expand.
it is also completely illogical. Why are they illegal ? Because they are ‘bad for you’ ? Then why is alcohol legal ?
A PP stated that there has been a year on year increase on coke related deaths . The reality is that in the year ending 2024 there were 4972 drug misuse deaths in the UK. However , alcohol alone as a cause of death were 9809 but this does not include where it was a contributing factor such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.
so why are we doing this ? It’s bonkers ?
If we can go to Waitrose for a couple of grams and know what it is, and pay tax on it like alcohol, cigarettes, vapes etc then why not ? If you don’t use it now I doubt very much that you will suddenly decide to stick a gram of columbian marching powder up your nose now , just because it’s legal.. anymore than you would take up smoking or decide to sink a pint of vodka a day.. however, if you do use it recreationally (and I am also in this camp) along with a whole swathe of middle class professionals ranging from law enforcement, to head teachers from my personal knowledge. Who would be doing it at weddings , parties etc . For me maybe 2 grams between DH and self 4/5 times a year . The tax you would make on sales and the money you could save on policing would fund an entire elderly care system let alone divert police time and resources to crimes that are barely looked at now like burglary, while they chase their tales trying to save the population from making poor decisions.
I’ve discussed this with very high ranking police officers and none have disagreed - but politicians are too scared to talk about it for fear of the pearl clutchers running around and screaming their kids will all end up smack addicts .. while actively buying booze on their kids behalf to take to naive middle class parties.