No link between tough laws and drug use, says 'historic' study
Findings cause 'panic' in the Home Office as Liberal Democrats call for new approach to drug control
A government study has found a "lack of clear correlation" between tough drug laws and levels of drug use.
Decriminalising drugs would therefore have little effect on the number of drug-users, the Home Office report suggests.
The study compared the UK's drugs policy to 13 other countries including Portugal, where it is no longer a criminal offence to possess a small amount of drugs.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Since Portugal made drug possession a health issue rather than a criminal issue in 2001, there has been a "considerable" improvement in the health of drug users, said the report.
Sources told the Daily Telegraph that the findings had caused "panic" within the Home Office, and triggered a row between Tory Home Secretary Theresa May and Liberal Democrat Home Office minister Norman Baker.
In the Lib Dems' 2010 election pledge, the party promised a royal commission to examine the alternatives to the current drug laws, and Baker has argued that locking people up for taking drugs does not necessarily change their drug habit.
"If we're interested in changing people's behaviour then we need to look at it from a health point of view," he said.
BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw says Baker's views are "at odds" with the official Home Office position, which says the current drug strategy is working.
The department has swiftly issued a statement to confirm that it has "absolutely no intention of decriminalising drugs".
Danny Kushlick, founder of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, described the report as a "historic moment" for UK drug policy.
"For the first time in over 40 years the Home Office has admitted that enforcing tough drug laws doesn't necessarily reduce levels of drug use," he said. "It has also acknowledged that decriminalising the possession of drugs doesn't increase levels of use."
The report has overshadowed a separate government plan for a blanket ban on all brain-altering drugs in a bid to tackle legal highs.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Rahmbo, back from Japan, will be looking for a job? Really?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What's next for electric vehicles under Trump?
Today's Big Question And what does that mean for Tesla's Elon Musk?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
These 7 touring theater productions are ready to carry you through the holidays and into the new year
The Week Recommends Your favorite movie-turned-musical might be coming to a city near you
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Britain about to 'boil over'?
Today's Big Question A message shared across far-right groups listed more than 30 potential targets for violence in the UK today
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
UK's Starmer slams 'far-right thuggery' at riots
Speed Read The anti-immigrant violence was spurred by false rumors that the suspect in the Southport knife attack was an immigrant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The Tamils stranded on 'secretive' British island in Indian Ocean
Under the Radar Migrants 'unlawfully detained' since 2021 shipwreck on UK-controlled Diego Garcia, site of important US military base
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published