political opinion is. You cannot deny that there
IS a problem with drugs in Great Britain.
And the problem is not being dealt with, it
never has been.
A different approach to “recreational” drugs.
Something I have often thought about over the years, what should be done about the lucrative and illicit trade in dangerous and illegal drugs? As someone who has worked in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, and wholesale buying and selling of alcohol and tobacco products, I have come to a conclusion that I’m sure most people at first glance will have difficulty understanding, some might even go as far as to call these ideas controversial, such is life.
Now the reason I mention my experiences in the alcohol and tobacco trades, is because I believe many parallels can be drawn by comparing them. Drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco are both highly dangerous, and both highly addictive, they are also both totally legal. On the other hand other drugs like cocaine, amphetamines, non medicinal opiates, and cannabis, are all just as dangerous and just as addictive, yet they are all illegal. Recently the British government declassified the personal use of cannabis, which was seen by many as an invitation for many users of that drug to admit their liking of it. It was a typical political experiment, and it backfired, but why? In my opinion this political gesture of tolerance was made deliberately in a way that it was doomed to fail right from the start. The more tolerant approach to the personal use of the drug did nothing to change the fact that users still had to buy it from illegal dealers. So why did they bother? It has been reported that in order to meet the new demands for cannabis, dealers are selling substances much stronger ,and potentially much more dangerous, than they were say twenty or so years ago. As someone who has always hated the smell of cannabis I can honestly say that whatever people are smoking these days can be smelt a mile off. So what possible good could have come out of all this? Well frankly no good whatsoever.
If the British government wish to deal with the problems caused by the use of illegal drugs there can only be two ways of going about it. The first is the age old process of prohibition, total zero tolerance, one might however argue that such methods have never worked in the past, and they never will. The other, and highly controversial method would be to totally legalise the whole lot, I’m not joking.
Imagine if you would, a Britain where the drug dealer was put totally out of business by the pharmaceutical companies. Where a drug user or addict would purchase his or her substances from a chemist, knowing that it had been manufactured to exact specifications, under the supervision of a qualified chemist, in a sterile environment regularly inspected by the MCA. All batches tested rigorously in laboratories, every stage of manufacturing process scrutinised by experienced quality assurance officers. And then with every gram accounted for dispatched to the chemist shops to be dispensed by qualified pharmacists. Would it work?
I’m not personally sure, but the drug problem here in Great Britain has become so desperate now, that I doubt if such methods could make it any worse. I believe it would work in a number of ways. I have already mentioned how it would put the dealers out of business, they wouldn’t be able to compete with the pharmaceutical giants in any way, especially price and quality. The smuggling and trafficking business would also have to switch its operations to other countries, there would be no market for their garbage here. Drugs related crimes, such as burglaries committed by desperate addicts would decrease with enormous significance, as addicts would be easier to treat and to control. Then there is the not so little matter of extra revenue, I doubt anyone believes that the government wouldn’t want to tax the hell out of such a profitable business.
I have seen enough of the way alcohol and tobacco products are manufactured and marketed in this country to know that controlled legalisation could be managed here. I also know how astringent the pharmaceutical authorities are, and am confident that the industry could easily cope with what to them would be simply a few new products. What I have never seen to date, is anyone in authority with the intestinal fortitude to even hint at such change. It seems to me that the subject of drug reform in this country is so taboo, that it is to be forever swept under the carpet. And the Labour government’s recent ridiculous stunt with the pretend legalisation of cannabis has merely swept it a little further.
As a footnote I would ask one last question, and it is up to you how you answer this. Which of the many popular but illegal “street” drugs are worse than alcohol and tobacco, and in what way?
Pete Williamson, NSG.
