Markk reacts incredulously to the idea that governments could pull the rug out from under criminal drug gangs by supplying clean heroin to addicts and hence destroying the market on which the gangs depend.
But once there
WAS a government that did avoid criminals making money out of supplying drugs to addicts. See this evidence submitted to the UK parliament:
https://committees.parliament.uk/writte ... 2Dexistent.
DRP0033
Written evidence from Law Enforcement Action Partnership UK (LEAP UK)
History:
The Inquiry has requested submissions on the health consequences of illicit drugs policy. Law Enforcement Action Partnership UK (LEAP UK) are extremely well placed to respond to the inquiry. LEAP UK is an organisation whose membership represents a broad pool of Law Enforcement professionals who worked to enforce the UK and International law dealing with illicit drugs, most obviously the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Our members include intelligence operatives who dealt with drug trafficking to fund Terrorism and Organised Crime on the global stage and military personnel from the British Army and the Royal Navy who were charged with physically disrupting international drug trafficking routes. The vast majority of the LEAP UK membership, however, have served or are currently serving as police officers in the United Kingdom. Virtually every rank from Special Constable through to Chief Constable is represented. Many of the members have extensive experience working in Drugs Units, including as level 2 undercover operatives where the nature of their work brought them into daily contact with the most vulnerable drugs users. They have witnessed first-hand the detrimental impact of UK policy on the health of these individuals.
“Our current drug laws address the issue of drug use with shame and criminalisation, it shames those who use non-problematically into secrecy, and those who use problematically - who need treatment and help - into a system that only compounds their problems.” - Suzanne Sharkey, former Constable and Undercover Operative, CID
There is a time in living memory for some people in the UK when there was no crime associated with drugs at all. Our nation was globally recognised as leaders of a health focused approach to drugs. In a policy known as the ‘British System’, problematic heroin users could report to their doctor and be prescribed clinically produced heroin which they would collect from a local pharmacy. The negative health implications associated with the illicit market were non-existent. The spread of addiction across the population was controlled because there was no incentive to convert non-users into customers in the way our members regularly encounter with the illicit market today. In the final year before the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (MoDA) was introduced, there were 1,049 recorded instances of people suffering from heroin addiction – 20 years later this number had risen to 300,000 people. This is not evidence of a policy that is protecting the health of British people.
In the 48 years since the MoDA became law, UK police forces have had a great deal of success in investigating and disrupting Organised Crime networks. Drug dealers and traffickers at all levels of the criminal hierarchy are arrested on a daily basis. Some of our members have been instrumental in developing investigative techniques that have contributed to thousands of years of successful drug convictions. Nevertheless, drug-related deaths in the UK are at record levels and are amongst the highest percentage of deaths per population in Europe. According to the ONS there were 3,756 deaths in England and Wales in 2017 due to drug poisonings – the highest since records began. It is clear that our accomplishments have not translated into a positive impact on mortality rates. We contend that they are largely to blame for the increase in drug-related health harms as users are forced into criminality and suffer from all the related harmful behaviours that stem from illicit substance use. What we can say without a shadow of a doubt is that we have failed to curtail the illicit market. Instead, we have witnessed it become increasingly violent and exploitative in response to our ability to disrupt it.
Got that? Until the criminalisation of drug use in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, heroin addicts in the UK could register as such with their doctor, and would be supplied with clean heroin at no cost in carefully controlled quantities under medical supervision. There was no heroin market for criminals to exploit, because addiction was treated as an illness.
But when the criminal law was brought to bear in 1971, and the so-called 'British System' ceased to operate, a huge criminal market was created, with the result that criminals worked hard to increase the number of addicts they supplied with adulterated and impure heroin, and both addiction and associated crime rates soared. To sum it up:
In the final year before the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (MoDA) was introduced, there were 1,049 recorded instances of people suffering from heroin addiction – 20 years later this number had risen to 300,000 people.
Rumour has it that the UK government abandoned its previous successful heroin control policy as a result of pressure from the US government. I hope that is not true, but it does sound plausible.
