Ms Anna Quigley:

One of the important points is to distinguish decriminalisation from legalisation. They are two very different things. We strongly favour decriminalisation. Currently, we make a person a criminal for using a drug. People use drugs for all kinds of reasons, including personal or social reasons. To make them a criminal for doing that makes no sense. It only adds to their difficulties and increases their engagement with the criminal justice system. We believe there should be decriminalisation, which is much more widespread than people think. People think of Portugal and the Netherlands, but in fact there has been decriminalisation in around 30 countries. Places such as Germany, Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic have all had some form of decriminalisation. We need to look at this as an option. Around 70% of prosecutions relating to drugs are for possession. In terms of resources, decriminalisation makes sense. Legalisation is far more complicated. As Mr. Gough said, our track record with alcohol is not great.

In the UN, there is a move by the Latin American countries to instigate a review of the war on drugs and a new approach to it. All international drug controls are operated in Latin American countries, and these are the countries which suffer the brunt of the illegal drugs trade. We all know what is happening in countries such as Mexico and Colombia. Nobody is going as far as to suggest legalisation. However, there is a general recognition in the international drugs policy area that what we are doing now in the war on drugs is not working. Across the world, it is the poorest communities that suffer the damage. We should decriminalise drugs. This approach is about not making a criminal of a person who is using a drug, no more than I should be a criminal if I drink a glass of wine. Legalisation is a far more complicated issue. However, we should have a discussion. We should not just say no to this. We need to look at the evidence, which tells us that what we are doing at the moment is not working at all.