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In the UK the illegal drugs are prohibited by the
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (MDA) [more]
and it's ammendments. This law is intended to fulfill
UK obligations to international law after the UK
signed UN Conventions [more]
prohibiting these drugs. Both laws claim their object
is to prohibit the non-medicinal use of dangerous
drugs. They do this by prohibiting the trade in these
drugs rather than by prohibiting their harmful use -
in the process also prohibiting the reasonably safe
use of these drugs.
The UN Conventions, and consequently the MDA, are
flawed for three main reasons:
- The word 'drugs' is not defined, merely being
defined as 'those substances listed'. Two of
the most commonly used non-medicinal drugs,
alcohol and tobacco, are omitted. More.
- The words 'dangerousness' and 'misuse' are
not defined in accordance with
internationally accepted definitions, like
the WHO's ICD-10 definition, which refers
only to harm to users. By any definition of
danger alcohol and tobacco are among the most
dangerous drugs known but they have been
omitted because Western governments profit
from their trade. No definitions of
dangerousness or misuse refer to trade,
production, export, supply or possession. More.
- Medicinal use is permitted but not defined.
Every society of humans has used drugs (apart
from Eskimos, who couldn't find any). Why?
Could it be that people are self-medicating
against stress? "Stress-related sick
leave costs industry £7.1million every
week" according to the Department of
Trade and Industry. More.
The MDA established the Advisory Council on the
Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) as the body with a legal duty
to advise Government about drug dangers and recommend
ammendments to the MDA, both additions and deletions.
However the ACMD has never advised Government that
alcohol and tobacco should be included in the MDA
even though there is overwhelming evidence that they
are more dangerous than some drugs included in the
MDA. Nor have they recommended that cannabis should
be excluded from the MDA even though they have stated
that "the high use of cannabis is not associated
with major health problems for the individual or
society." More.
The laws governing non-medicinal drugs are
patently unjust, prohibiting safer drugs than they
allow, discriminating against the competing foreign
drugs trade and the minorities who use those drugs.
They fail to educate people about the harmful use of
drugs, fail to give them informed choice, and they
fail to regulate only against harm to others.
There are many risky non-essential activities
other than drug taking that people choose to do, some
involving putting potentially harmful material in
their bodies. With these activities society educates
against harm to the user and only regulates against
harm to others. None of these activities are made
illegal:
- Harmful use of food (obesity kills 30,000 a
year)
- Sun bathing (kills 2,000 a year)
- Sport (250,000 young people injured a year)
- Dangerous sports (hillwalking kills around
100 a year)
- DIY (climbing ladders at home kills 50 a
year)
- More.
Our justice system has many checks against unjust
laws:
- Police Chief Constables have discretion over
the degree of law enforcement. For example,
most turn a blind eye to prostitution as long
as it occurs off the streets in brothels. More.
- The Crown Prosecution Service can only
recommend a prosecution if it is in the
public interest so they could conclude that
offenders breaking an unjust law should not
be prosecuted. More.
- Juries are the ultimate democratic defence
against unjust laws passed by Government.
Juries were created as a democratic means for
the common people to use common-sense to
judge the fairness of laws passed by the
powerful law-makers. That is why jurors have
no knowledge of the law nor the defendant,
merely common-sense. However judges are not
required to swear to "tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth". Judges still direct the jury to
judge 'only the facts of the matter' and to
'leave aside personal feelings'. Jurors are
not informed of their rights and duties to
judge the law. In fact any juror may, for
example, find illegal drug offenders guilty
of breaking the law but innocent of doing
anything wrong and therefore declare them
"innocent". More and even more.
The unjust drug laws influence many areas of
society other than the legal system:
- Human Rights: people have a right to a
private life so why can't they, for example,
grow cannabis at home and only take it within
their own property? People have a right to be
protected by Government from danger yet
Government profits from the trade in legal
drugs that kill one in five citizens while
prohibiting access to safer alternatives.
Citizens are mislead about the dangers of
drugs, denied informed choice and, if they
disobey the law and take the safer but
illegal alternatives, they are discriminated
against, persecuted, prosecuted and
imprisoned. More.
- Health: without informed choice citizens have
no chance to take responsibility for their
health. A quarter of the adult population are
addicted to legal drugs that kill one in
five, a total of 150,000 deaths every year.
Had these victims of the law been given the
safer choice of cannabis they might still be
alive. More.
- Education: what do we tell children when they
ask why some drugs are illegal? We know the
answer is NOT because they are more dangerous
than legal drugs. We try to teach our
children how to make choices responsibly, by
informing themselves of the choices open to
them and the various consequences of those
choices. They are told that tobacco and
alcohol kill 150,000 each year but are legal
while cannabis has never killed anyone and is
illegal. Now that's a mixed message if ever
there was one! More.
- Fair and free trade: should our country allow
the sale and use of lethal addictive drugs?
Should nations be allowed to produce and
export lethal addictive drugs? These
questions remain unanswered. Trade in some of
the lethal addictive drugs is permitted while
others are banned. Our Government and the
World Trade Organisation will have to answer
these questions one day. If trade in these
drugs is prohibited then the alcohol and
tobacco trade will become illegal. If the
trade is permitted then Afghanistan would be
allowed to export its heroin. Drug laws are
protectionist policies designed to restrict
the free trade in drugs that compete with
those that Western governments profit from.
The UK Government gets £20 billion a year
from the trade in those drugs it has classed
as legal. The Government says it believes in
free trade and increased cometition but fails
to confront the restrictive practises imposed
by UN Conventions. More.
- Modernisation of Government: Government has
many catchphrases associated with their
modernisation program. 'Integration' of
policy and services to make the system run
more smoothly; 'informed choice' to encourage
the responsible exercise of free choice;
'social inclusion' to reduce discrimination
against and to empower those minorities with
least influence in society; 'free trade' to
eliminate restrictive policies designed to
favour domestic trade over foreign imports
and increase competition. More.
What are the dangers caused by prohibition? More.
Is civil disobedience a just response to an unjust
law? More.
What concerns are there about legally regulating
illegal drugs? More.
