The Great and the Good Campaign for Review of Drug Laws

The Great and the Good Campaign for Review of Drug Laws

You can find the text of the letter to the Prime Minister here.

2 Ministry of Justice Criminal Justice Statistics (England and Wales) showed that 79,413 people were found guilty or cautioned for drug possession in 2010.

END

Notes to editors:

1. Release is the national centre of expertise on drugs and drugs law providing expert advice to the public.

2. The Global Commission on Drug Policy will meet on 02 June 2011 in New York (http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/). A copy of the embargoed report & press release is available on request.

3. Letter and signatories attached.

Press Enquiries: Niamh Eastwood – 07900 002632/ Niamh@release.org.uk; Rupert George – 07767 768959/ Rupert@release.org.uk; Kirstie Douse – 07793 221039/ Kirstie@release.org.uk.

The following signatories will be available for interviews and comments:

Baroness Molly Meacher

Tom Lloyd (Former Chief Constable Cambridgeshire)

Paul Mandelle QC (Joint Head of 25 Bedford Row)

Dr Mike Shiner (Senior Lecturer and Assistant Director of the Mannheim Centre for Criminology, LSE)

Leading QC’s, three former Chief Constables, academics, politicians and high profile celebrities have today sent an open letter to the Coalition Government calling for an immediate and transparent review of current drug policy with a view to decriminalisation1 of possession of all drugs. The letter, supported by Dame Judi Dench; Sting; Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC; and Julie Christie among others, has been organised by the national charity Release and is the first step in the organisation’s new campaign: Drugs – It’s Time for Better Laws. 1 Decriminalisation is a model which adopts civil sanctions in relation to drug possession.The launch of this UK campaign coincides with the report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy which will be released in New York later today. The Commission, which includes Kofi Annan and Richard Branson, states that ‘that the global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world’ and recommends the ‘end[of] the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs but who do no harm to others’. Release’s campaign highlights the immediate need for a review of the UK’s current drug policy. Sting, who is supporting the campaign, states: “Givingyoung people criminal records for minor drug possession serves little purpose – it is time to think of more imaginative ways of addressing drug use in our society”. Leading hepatologist, Professor Graham Foster adds; “Current drug laws are failing both drug users and society at large.” Niamh Eastwood, Deputy Director at Release, advised: “As a provider of free legal services to the public for over forty years Release sees first-hand how the current system causes real damage to individuals without protecting communities. Nearly, 80,0002 people last year were convicted or cautioned for drug offences – this is a waste of resources both in terms of the cost to the public purse and the restrictions on people’s futures in regards to employment and education”. The campaign will encourage the public to offer their support by writing to their MPs calling on them to take a principled stand over the UK’s failed drug policies.

2 Ministry of Justice Criminal Justice Statistics (England and Wales) showed that 79,413 people were found guilty or cautioned for drug possession in 2010.

END

Notes to editors:

1. Release is the national centre of expertise on drugs and drugs law providing expert advice to the public.

2. The Global Commission on Drug Policy will meet on 02 June 2011 in New York (http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/). A copy of the embargoed report & press release is available on request.

3. Letter and signatories attached.

Press Enquiries: Niamh Eastwood – 07900 002632/ Niamh@release.org.uk; Rupert George – 07767 768959/ Rupert@release.org.uk; Kirstie Douse – 07793 221039/ Kirstie@release.org.uk.

The following signatories will be available for interviews and comments:

Baroness Molly Meacher

Tom Lloyd (Former Chief Constable Cambridgeshire)

Paul Mandelle QC (Joint Head of 25 Bedford Row)

Dr Mike Shiner (Senior Lecturer and Assistant Director of the Mannheim Centre for Criminology, LSE)

Leading QC’s, three former Chief Constables, academics, politicians and high profile celebrities have today sent an open letter to the Coalition Government calling for an immediate and transparent review of current drug policy with a view to decriminalisation1 of possession of all drugs. The letter, supported by Dame Judi Dench; Sting; Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC; and Julie Christie among others, has been organised by the national charity Release and is the first step in the organisation’s new campaign: Drugs – It’s Time for Better Laws. 1 Decriminalisation is a model which adopts civil sanctions in relation to drug possession.The launch of this UK campaign coincides with the report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy which will be released in New York later today. The Commission, which includes Kofi Annan and Richard Branson, states that ‘that the global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world’ and recommends the ‘end[of] the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs but who do no harm to others’. Release’s campaign highlights the immediate need for a review of the UK’s current drug policy. Sting, who is supporting the campaign, states: “Givingyoung people criminal records for minor drug possession serves little purpose – it is time to think of more imaginative ways of addressing drug use in our society”. Leading hepatologist, Professor Graham Foster adds; “Current drug laws are failing both drug users and society at large.” Niamh Eastwood, Deputy Director at Release, advised: “As a provider of free legal services to the public for over forty years Release sees first-hand how the current system causes real damage to individuals without protecting communities. Nearly, 80,0002 people last year were convicted or cautioned for drug offences – this is a waste of resources both in terms of the cost to the public purse and the restrictions on people’s futures in regards to employment and education”. The campaign will encourage the public to offer their support by writing to their MPs calling on them to take a principled stand over the UK’s failed drug policies.

2 Ministry of Justice Criminal Justice Statistics (England and Wales) showed that 79,413 people were found guilty or cautioned for drug possession in 2010.

END

Notes to editors:

1. Release is the national centre of expertise on drugs and drugs law providing expert advice to the public.

2. The Global Commission on Drug Policy will meet on 02 June 2011 in New York (http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/). A copy of the embargoed report & press release is available on request.

3. Letter and signatories attached.

Press Enquiries: Niamh Eastwood – 07900 002632/ Niamh@release.org.uk; Rupert George – 07767 768959/ Rupert@release.org.uk; Kirstie Douse – 07793 221039/ Kirstie@release.org.uk.

The following signatories will be available for interviews and comments:

Baroness Molly Meacher

Tom Lloyd (Former Chief Constable Cambridgeshire)

Paul Mandelle QC (Joint Head of 25 Bedford Row)

Dr Mike Shiner (Senior Lecturer and Assistant Director of the Mannheim Centre for Criminology, LSE)

www.release.org.uk

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The Beckley Foundation has previously expressed its concerns of a continued tendency by the UK Government to distance themselves from an evidence based approach to Drug Policy. This tendency was highlighted early this year with the appointment of Manchester GP, Dr Hans-Christian Raabe to the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD).

It now seems that Parliament is trying to pass a clause in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill (know in parliament as Bill 62-EN) that would mean that members of the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) would no longer need any medical or scientific training or indeed any relevant experience; instead the Secretary of State would be granted the power to appoint anyone “he considers appropriate”.

If you think that the government would be better supported by preserving the present situation of having scientists and other experts on the ACMD we suggest that you consider signing the following petition.

Background:

The bill which generally is aimed at quelling public protest, also will change the process of scheduling a substance.

If Bill 62-EN passes,  it would allow the Secretary of State to ban substances for a period of 12 months instantaneously and without further study.

The only requirements for invoking illegal status on a substance and thus immediately criminalizing anyone already possessing it, is that first the Home Secretary must discuss it with the Council, whose members s/he has been allowed to hand pick and that both they and s/he must be “satisfied that the drug in question is one that is, or is likely to be, misused, and that misuse is having, or is capable of having, harmful effects.” That sounds like a whole lot of guess work. Shouldn’t evidentiary proofs be required?

In 2009, this same Drugs Advisory Council’s then-head, Professor David Nutt, was forced from his position after he pointed out flaws in the current classification system that led to distorted evaluations of risk. This message, although undeniably corroborated by factual data, was regarded as not in keeping with the blind allegiance to the “war on drugs” that our leaders continue to promote. Now, the government wants to make sure that experts like David Nutt never get on the committee in the first place.

This attack on science, reason and the truth, must not be allowed to continue. It is a step back into those dark times when Galileo was arrested for telling scientific truths then considered heretical.

From the incarceration of 10 million non-violent prisoners worldwide to the tens of thousands of murders attributed to Latin America’s narco-traffic underground, the societal evidence correlates with current scientific data in concluding that the “war on drugs” has failed.

We support a rational society in which scientists are free to share the truths that they discover, without fear of suppression for political ends. Thus, we insist that people with relevant expertise guide policy on all important issues facing society.

Otherwise, one has to ask, who makes these crucial decisions, and upon what basis? Why should we be “advised” by people who have no special knowledge?

Reproduced below is the original text of the 1971 act, with everything after the word “appropriate” set to be stricken:

SCHEDULE 1 Constitution etc. Of Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs1(1)The members of the Advisory Council, of whom there shall be not less than twenty, shall be appointed by the Secretary of State after consultation with such organisations as he considers appropriate, and shall include—(a)in relation to each of the activities specified in sub-paragraph (2) below, at least one person appearing to the Secretary of State to have wide and recent experience of that activity; and(b)persons appearing to the Secretary of State to have wide and recent experience of social problems connected with the misuse of drugs.(2)The activities referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(a) above are—(a)the practice of medicine (other than veterinary medicine);(b)the practice of dentistry;(c)the practice of veterinary medicine;(d)the practice of pharmacy;(e)the pharmaceutical industry;(f)chemistry other than pharmaceutical chemistry.

Please go to www.theyworkforyou.com and enter your postcode to find your MP. You can send an email from there too, so in addition to signing this petition, please also send an email to your representative. Feel free to add your own sentiments when you do so and remember that letters received by post have twice the impact, so there is that option as well.

The full text of what is known in Parliament as Bill 62-EN is available at this here