One Busy Week...

Woah, it sure has been a busy week...This post is basically just to remind you to scroll down and check this weeks links - I am updating the post almost daily with new links!! Also - ive noticed the first few followers, thanks for the support guys! Please tell your friends about this blog.  The bigger its following the better! Feel free to use anything that I post on this blog :)

After the War on Drugs; A Blueprint for Regulation

After the war on drugs: Blueprint for Regulation from Transform on Vimeo.

New poll shows 70% support for legal regulation of cannabis (UK)

The following press release was issued today by the campaigning group Liberal Democrats for Drug Policy Reform. The blog will explore its fascinating findings in more detail at a later stage. For more information on drug policy and public opinion see Transform's (soon to updated) 2004 briefing Attitudes to Drug Policy and Drug Laws: A review of the international evidence. 
Note: Transform has provided a quote, but has not been involved in the poll, and has no affiliation with the LDDPR 

New poll shows 70% support for legal regulation of cannabis 

Three other drugs: Magic Mushrooms, Amphetamines, and Mephedrone show a majority in favour of legalisation and regulation, whilst 3 in 10 people would prefer the state regulate rather than prohibit heroin supply. These poll results demonstrate that the public is ready for a mature, open discussion of alternative approaches to drug policy and that there is no need for politicians to fear a backlash should they express doubts about the wisdom of our current approach. 

Rather than just ask whether each drug should be “legalised”, the poll gave brief descriptions of three regulatory options and asked the public to pick which they thought most tolerable for each of a series of drugs. The options were:

• Light regulation (drugs sold like tobacco and alcohol are now)
• Strict government control and regulation (an example of how government could heavily regulate a legal market in an attempt to minimise harm)
• and Prohibition (the current status of illegal drugs).

support for legalisation regulation combnes support for the first two options

Headline results include:

• 70% support for cannabis legalisation/regulation, with 1 in 3 of those polled feeling that it should be sold in a similar way to alcohol and tobacco.
• More people supporting legalisation/regulation than prohibition for 3 other drugs: Magic Mushrooms (52% to 34%), Amphetamines (49% to 40%), and the recently banned “legal high” Mephedrone (41% to 39%).
• 39% support for the legal regulation of ecstasy sales, 36% support for regulation of cocaine, and 30% of respondents supported the legal regulation of heroin.
• For alcohol and tobacco over 1 in 4 respondents supported strict government control and regulation and 8% expressed a desire for tobacco to be prohibited.

Ewan Hoyle, founder of campaigning group Liberal Democrats for Drug Policy Reform says:

“The “Do you think x drug should be legalised?” question asked in polls up until now has failed to elicit any useful information. It may be interpreted by many poll participants as a question on their moral tolerance of drug use, or may conjure up thoughts of an unregulated free-market that they rightly judge to be dangerous. This poll shows that, when asked to choose between some of the actual regulatory options available, the public regards the strict controls and regulations that are being proposed by the reform movement as a sensible solution to our drugs problem.”

“The percentage favouring the legal regulation of Class A drugs is far higher than in previous polls and I would expect this percentage to rise still further as the debate progresses and the causes of the astronomical social and financial costs of problem drug use under the current system are explained. Prohibition of cocaine and heroin is causing, not preventing, massive harms to communities in the UK, and to all the countries in the world that this illegal trade touches.”

Steve Rolles of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation said:

"It is important that people understand that ‘legalisation’ is a process not a policy endpoint – and is one that can lead to strict government regulation of markets. It does not imply an unregulated commercial free for all that many may imagine if no other options are outlined. If anything an unregulated free for all is what we have under prohibition.

The important lesson for politicians is that they don’t need to be afraid of public opinion on this issue if it is presented in the more practical terms of market regulation"

Notes for editors: 

• How the poll looked to participants
• From July 7 to July 9, 2010, Vision Critical conducted an online survey among 2,000 randomly selected British adults who are Springboard UK panelists. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current age, gender, social class, region and newspaper readership data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain. 
• Complete data breakdown in google doc spreadsheet format: here, here and here

Contacts for comment: 

Ewan Hoyle - Founder of Liberal Democrats for Drug Policy Reform 

Mark Thompson
Prominent Lib Dem blogger and leading member of LDDPR

Steve Rolles
Transform Drug Policy Foundation 01179415810

(This Post was written and published by Transform Drug Policy Foundation and can be found on their blog (click on the link to be directed there).  This is not my own work. Thank to Transform for allowing me to repost this blog.)

In the News this Week.

This week there have been numerous articles published in the mainstream media regarding a change in drug policy...


Drugs policy: The 'British system' (BBC NEWS)

War on drugs: Bring out the peace pipe (The Guardian)

Top doctor Sir Ian Gillmore calls for drugs law review (BBC NEWS)

Legalise heroin and cocaine to cut crime and improve health, top doctor says (Daily Mail)

Leading doctor urges decriminalisation of drugs (The Guardian)

War on drugs: why the US and Latin America could be ready to end a fruitless 40-year struggle (Guardian.co.uk - The Observer)

The war on drugs: It's time to end the propaganda. Prohibition isn't working (The Guardian - The Observer)

A unique chance to rethink drugs policy (The Guardian - The Observer)

Drugs: the problem is more than just the substances, it's the prohibition itself (The Guardian - The Observer)


Although these articles are not directly related to drug law reform they clearly highlight both the dangers and problems of the illicit drug trade:


Cannabis farm boom fuelling rise of violence in Britain (The Guardian)

Trafficked children working in UK 'cannabis farms' (BBC NEWS)

Channel 4 New Series; Our Drug War

Channel 4 have produced a new documentary series examining the global story of drugs, from Afghanistan's poppy fields to the streets of New York and the estates of Edinburgh.  Its definitely a program worth watching and lucky you can watch it now courtesy of Channel 4OD.

Follow the link below:

Click Here to go to Channel 4OD - Our Drug War

This Blog...

It is becoming ever more noticeable that times are changing.  Every day i see a new story in the mainstream press highlighting the failures of the global war on drugs.  With each passing day i believe it is becoming more and more obvious that the end is nigh for prohibition.  This blog is intended to be a library of information for anyone who wishes to follow the latest news on the war on drugs and its imminent and long awaited end.

Please bare with me in these first few weeks as I gather my sources together and attempt to get this blog up and running.


EDIT: After contemplating this over the past day, I have decided NOT to fill this blog with links to old articles and stories that, although relevant, are outdated and have decided to only post links to materials that have been published following the creation of this blog. (17/08/2010 15:44)