Drug Policy

The first main option which is available to the government is the maintenance of the status quo. The current status quo of the drug policy is punitive prohibition and has a limited amount of treatment facilities. Punitive prohibition is the use of criminal charges with the goal of stopping the usage of drugs and all the harms that comes with it. This drug policy has been enforced and mostly unaltered since the MDA 1971. As outlined by the UK Drug Policy Commission the goals of the current drug policy is to reduce supply and demand whilst improving rates of recovery of those dependent on drugs.
Status Quo Health Evaluation
Evaluating the health benefits of the current drug policy is a very contentious issue. The main benefit of the current
It places too much emphasis on drug usage rather than drug misuse. As noted previously, research from the ONS shows that deaths caused by drug usage is at a record high. This.is further supplemented by the increase amount of cocaine and opiate dependent users outlined in Figure 2 by Transform. This outlines that the current prohibition drugs laws may leads to more harm inflicting usage of drugs rather than less harmful means of drug taking in comparison to other methods. The argument for this is outlined by the Global Commission, which argues that HIV and Aids increases are mainly due to the fact current laws push the people who need help underground rather into treatment. The Global Commission is a very influential body which comprised of former heads of states as well as health and human right experts. The report also outlines that high rates of infection are in prison. Implying that putting someone in prison for drug possession puts them in a more dangerous environment and is not the best solution to reducing deaths and societal harm caused by drug use. This contrasts with decriminalisation which tries to inhibit drug usage but not at such a level that it forces users away from the treatment centres that the user’s needs. This outlines a severe shortcoming of punitive prohibition it creates a negative image of drugs to the extent that those who need help are scared to pursue treatment.
Transform note that 90% of this cost is related to drug-related crime and that prohibition causes higher price of illicit drugs. This in turns leads to more crime in contrast to regulation which would lower crime costs by up to 75%. This shows that not only a pricey policy option but it is also being used inefficiently as shown by the high reoffending rates. As noted by a report by Ministry of Justice drug reoffending rates were at 57.2% in comparison to general reoffending rates at 25.5%. Showing that prison does not appear to solve the solution of drug use if reoffending rates are so high. The evidence in the monetary evaluation of the status quo suggests that the system needs rethinking especially in a time of austerity. The current system provides a high cost on the criminal justice system whilst providing no source of