Talking About Drugs

There are many things that make me angry in British politics, but I don’t think any of them make me angrier than the way that most British politicians refuse to have an intelligent conversation about drugs. Here’s a case in point. The Commons home affairs select committee are holding an inquiry into drugs policy. Yesterday,… Continue reading Talking About Drugs

Good Drugs vs Bad Drugs

There’s been a lot of talk about drugs over the last few days. Most of the commentary has been of the usual desultory level. It’s almost as though people don’t want to have a serious and focussed debate on the dangers of drugs. There are two facts in particular that almost never get mentioned. And… Continue reading Good Drugs vs Bad Drugs

He Blinded Me With Science

The story so far: In January 2004, in an astonishing display of common sense the government downgraded cannabis to a class C drug. This didn’t play well in the shires and in January 2009 it was reclassified as Class B. Last week, Professor David Nutt, head of the government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of… Continue reading He Blinded Me With Science

Decriminalising Cannabis

Last week the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, announced that cannabis we be downgraded to a class C drug in the UK’s legal classification of drugs. The effect of this change will be that possession of small amounts of cannabis will be effectively decriminalised. This follows an experiment along these lines in Lambeth over recent months.… Continue reading Decriminalising Cannabis