Britain Is Reconsidering Its War On Drugs

Those who like to get high the legal way will be celebrating this week in the United Kingdom. It was confirmed recently that the Psychoactive Substances Act (PSA) which was due to come into force on April 6, has been postponed indefinitely. This means that what would have criminalised the production and sale of anything categorised as ‘psychoactive’ under an arbitrary definition dreamed up by civil servants in the Home Office has been canned until further notice.

The reason for the delay is because the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), stated that they were doubtful about the PSA’s effectiveness in preventing the production and distribution of such substances. This, coupled with being unenforceable by the police, not least because of the ambiguous definition of the word ‘psychoactive’, was enough to make the Home Office return to some form of reality.

The failure of the PSA raises important questions about the criminalisation of drugs. For example, there is a plethora of research which strongly suggests that decriminalisation has no real impact on levels of drug use. Furthermore, other studies reveal that decriminalisation has a positive impact as it reduces the burden on criminal justice systems. Therefore, if decriminalisation would not result in more people consuming harmful substances, and if it would reduce the burden on the justice system, perhaps it is time to seriously consider decriminalisation.

Not only are the drug laws in the U.K. — and around the world — ineffective and cumbersome, they are also inherently unfair and increase inequality. As a result of drug laws, prison populations in the U.K. and the U.S. have a disproportionately high number of people who are black, young, and poor (often all three).

Furthermore, drug prohibition hands power and money to violent and odious criminals. This is particularly true with cannabis, which has the largest share of the drug market. An example of this is provided by the impact of cannabis legalisation in some states in America. As people can now buy cannabis legally, it has reduced the prices that drug dealers are charging. Decriminalisation has had a massive impact on the power and profits of Mexican drug cartels.

Crack cocaine and crystal meth, two of the most terribly destructive drugs, came about as a result of the U.S. government’s attempts to eradicate the supply of less dangerous drugs. Such a clampdown on cannabis has led people to legal highs; any further legislation will force the market underground and will hand even more power to criminals, meaning more harmful substances being created and consumed.

The government needs to seriously consider decriminalising certain recreational drugs such as cannabis. If it did this, it would radically reduce the power of some of the most vile and detestable people around the world, decrease the burden on the already overstretched criminal justice system, and dramatically reduce the number of ethnic minorities and other disadvantaged people in prison.