DRUG USE AND PERSONAL CHOICE

A Green Party strategy

by George Branchflower.

The Green Party's current policy on drug use was passed in 1993 after more than three years of research and consultation. Our approach is built on a number of underlying premises regarding drug use, its effect on the individual and society and the consequences of current government strategy towards the issue

It is clear that the use of psychoactive substances in one form or another is common to nearly all societies and is almost certain to continue in the future. Equally clear is the fact that within the current legal and social context drug use may have damaging effects on both the individual and society at large. There are three principal areas in which these damaging effects make themselves felt. Firstly, the social disruption to people's lives that can be caused by excessive or dysfunctional use of substances. Secondly, the effect in increasing crime flowing both from the involvement of powerful criminal organisations in the drugs market and by acquisitive crime committed by dependant drug users. Thirdly, the health effects of using drugs (especially when adulterated or of poor quality) and also the increased risk of HIV and AIDS by sharing needles.

The question therefore arises as to what is the legitimate ambit of government action in this area? For Greens the answer is dear - it is not the job of government to impose a moralistic view of the rights and wrongs of drug use per se. Rather it is to seek to develop a range of polices that directly address the negative effects of drug use and to minimise those effects for the benefit of its citizens. To this end the Green Party seeks to shift the policy context of the issue of drug use from one of attempted suppression and criminalisation to one of health and education.

The position of successive UK governments has been both inconsistent and highly damaging to the goal of minimizing drug use. It is inconsistent because neither the legal status of diferent substances nor the targeting of government expenditure bear any relation to the harm diferent drugs do to the individual or society. For this reason Green Party policy includes measures designed to combat the negative effects of the use of legal drugs such as tobacco, alcohol and inappropriately prescribed tranquillisers - the dire consequences of which are often overlooked in the war on drugs. It is damaging because as well as being largely unworkable prohibition has fuelled crime driving up prices, increased health risks through the sale of adulterated drugs and marginalised and criminalised the significant proportion of the population who use drugs. Prohibtion in this way is counter-productive: it is more damaging to the user, the community and society than the drug use it seeks to eliminate.

Dealing first with measures relating to the use of legal substances, the Green Party would introduce legislation prohibiting smoking in all enclosed premises to which the public has access with a system of exemption licencing. The preferred mechanism for this and for the further promotion of workplace smoking policies would be through health and safety legislation.

In view of the fact that tobacco smoking is the principal cause of premature death in the UK we would press for a complete ban on all forms of promotion of tobacco products including sponsorship and product placement. We would like to see the effects of taxation on consumption of alcohol and tobacco more closely monitored and greater taxation of the net profits and the dividends paid to shareholders of alcohol and tobacco companies rather than the present regressive system targeted at the consumer. Whilst it is arguable that personal consumption can be seen largely as a matter of individual liberty, a proportion of the profits from such products should be used to subsidise health and treatment services. Greens are also calling for tighter controls on driving whilst under the influence of drugs - both in terms of increased penalties and of a reduction in the permitted blood/alcohol ratio.

This policy explicitly recognises the vital part played by social custom, convention and ritual in the moderate and responsible use of drugs. To some extent the development of such social control can be inhibited by government intervention. For this reason the Green Party would like to see a relaxation of the fixed measures in which it is permitted to serve alcohol, to allow smaller measures to be served to young people as a way of educating responsible drinking behaviour at an early age. Ultimately though the development of a safer drug use culture would be facilitated by the Green Party's move away from the prohibitionist stance adopted by successive UK governments.

Within the framework of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 the Green Party favours removing the criminal sanctions for the simple possession of controlled drugs for personal use. This reform would move along the lines of the largely successful Dutch model and would not place the UK in breach of international law. We favour a gradualist approach largely achieved through the secondary legislation (ie changing the penalties within the existing law) and the re-scheduling of various substances, and repealing those sections of the act which criminalise cannabis cultivation for personal consumption and the possession of pipes for opium smoking. To counterbalance this the unauthorised production, importation, and marketing of all drugs controlled by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 would remain criminal offences punishable by fines, with confiscation of assets with custodial sentences reserved for serious trafficking offences.

It is fair to say that this aspect of the Green Party's policy generated considerable controversy both inside and outside the party. Critics questioned the apparent inconsistency in decriminalising possession whilst retaining sanctions for large-scale supply. The fact remains however, that possession and production for profit are quite different activities. The Green Party neither condones nor condemns drug use in itself. We are concerned solely with minimizing the negative consequences that surround such use. Whilst we do not believe that it is the legitimate remit of government to moralise as to personal choice inasmuch as that activity is victimless, neither do we believe that it is the role of government to act as a dealer or to sanction the pursuit of profit by the trade in psychoactive substances. Nor would such a partial non-interventionist approach be unique. For example the catching of fish in excess of European Union quotas is illegal. But the purchase and possession of those fish by a consumer, even if one is fully aware of their origin, is not. For the present we believe that criminal sanctions for the production, importation and supply of controlled drugs should remain and that policing authorities should re-deploy resources to the detection of large-scale trafficking operations.

Continuing with the theme of harm-minimisation it is clear health services have a vital role to play. Greens are committed to making available additional resources to fund an increase in the range and number of facilities available on the NHS for people with drug-related problems. Health authorities should have sufficient resources to establish appropriate drug-use clinics and needle-exchange schemes in every area as well as be able to ensure the provision of needle sterilisation facilities for use by prisoners. In particular, resources including greater support and training should be made available for certain medical practitioners to provide long-term drug prescriptions for those unwilling or unable to stop. To this end we would seek to bring forward regulations ending the prohibition on the prescribing of drugs where appropriate. Evaluation should be a built-in component of this strategy and the Green Party would hope to facilitate the establishment of an independent non-statutory service providing analysis of any drug regardless of source. This service should be available for a small fee to members of the public and would be confidential, although statistical information from results could be published periodically. Funding for this new approach would be ring-fenced within the health service and education budgets, and directly supplemented by a proportion of the fines and assets of those convicted of serious trafficking offences.

To change the cultural context in which drug use takes place is an essential goal. General information and health education relating to drugs, both legal and illegal, should be improved including separate approaches to three target groups: young people, drug users and the general public. Counselling and advice on drugs should be made universally available, but particularly to children and young people through the provision of non-statutory services in schools, youth projects and via street outreach. The Green Party seeks to open up the whole issue of drug use to the public and regards the supply of adequate, clear, free and accessible information as vital to the process of minimising harm from drug use.

On the international level so long as there are wide differences in living standards between countries there will always be an incentive (often an urgent one) for poorer countries to produce drug crops for richer countries. Greens believe that interventions by importing nations such as drug crop eradication and crop substitution programmes are both economically unfeasible and ecologically damaging. We would like to see an end to support for such programmes and instead see the launch of a series of initiatives which would offer alternative fair trading arrangements in more ecologically and socially beneficial crops.

Drug use in society is a fact of life; most people use drugs of one sort or another. A shift away from prohibition and towards a comprehensive education and harm-minimisation strategy should not be seen as a retreat. Rather it represents a long-overdue reappraisal of the role of policy in tackling the problems that can arise. A realistic and honest approach is needed to ensure that those who choose to use drugs can do so more safely and with the minimum of disruption to themselves and others.

George Branchflower is a member of the Green Party's Drug Use Policy Working Group.

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