Thursday, May 13, 2010

Britain's New Prime Minister Thinks Drugs Should Be Legal | Stop the Drug War (DRCNet)

Britain's New Prime Minister Thinks Drugs Should Be Legal | Stop the Drug War (DRCNet)

I am really optimistic about the Lib/Con coalition in the UK. According to Stop the Drug War:
He probably won't admit it now, but Britain's new prime minister thinks drugs should be legal. David Cameron, whose Conservative Party (the Tories) ousted Labor in last week's election, told the UK paper The Independent that the United Nations should consider legalization. He also wanted Britain to revive its former practice of providing heroin maintenance for addicts, and to open safe injection sites too.

According to The Independent, which did the interview in 2005 when Cameron was vying for the Conservative's leadership spot, Cameron favored "fresh thinking and a new approach" toward British drug policy, adding "we have to let 1,000 flowers bloom and look at all sorts of treatment models."

Cameron started off well as a parliamentarian, initially backing the government's downgrading of cannabis (marijuana) penalties from schedule B to C. But as a tabloid-driven hysteria over marijuana in the UK unfolded, Cameron (and The Independent) did a foolish about face. Still, Cameron's past comments are on the record, and his personal instincts on the issue at least seem to be good ones.

I am not going to hold my breath waiting for the Tories to roll out legalization proposals, Cameron's past statements notwithstanding. But Labor under Gordon Brown was abominable on the drug issue, so whatever left-leaning Britons may miss about the former Labor government, they likely won't miss the drug policy. If Cameron does want to do something about this, Britain's Transform Drug Policy Foundation has a "Blueprint for Regulation" report ready and waiting.

4 comments:

  1. Interesting William. Remember though that Obama said many "good" things during his campaign concerning prohibition and then ..... nothing but more of the same.
    Heavy sigh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hm … so how’s Obama turning out? MPP had a saying on their website, “Obama, from first to worst.”

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  2. In 2002 he was on our Home Affairs cmmt. and he signed a motion declaring it would be better to prescribe a Heroin at government dispensaries.

    Since being Conservative leader, when asked about Cannabis he now says: "It's illegal and it's wrong."

    He refuses to answer the question whether he has taken drugs himself. Yet there is lots of evidence he was nearly expelled from his school, Eton, for cannabis.

    Im not hopeful that we will be getting a radical change of policy in the UK just yet.

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  3. Cameron (and The Independent) did a foolish about face.
    I have a feeling that raging Drug Warriors showed up at their door and screamed all sorts of terrorist threats in their faces; i.e. they donned their False Prophets of Prohibition garb and did their best to cow Cameron & the other guy into believing their false prophesies.

    ReplyDelete

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