- Staff Notice
I think there should be continued efforts to get drugs off the streets. I have been a fan of the idea of criminalising possession of even small amounts. I would also like to see a drug offenders register rather like the sex offenders register. I think that shattered reputations that cannot be restored and the life long struggle against the social stigma of being on the register is a great deterrent. I have always been a fan of harsh punishment as others will be deterred by the examples set.
I understand this view very well, but I am forced to confront the simple truth that banning drugs simply does not work. We can threaten those who want to take them all we like - even capital punishment would not cure the problem.
We will eventually have to come to terms with the fact that prohibition does not, and never will work.
Legalising drugs, provision of good medical advice, supporting those who try to get off the addiction and taking the drug pushers off the streets will all help to manage the problem in a way that the present arrangement cannot.
By continuing with the existing arrangements, we will continue to see drug pushers trying to get people hooked and then raising prices sky high, which then leads to thieving on quite a large scale. And of course, by requiring drug takers to sign a register as you suggest will simply make it more difficult for them to ultimately reintegrate into society.