LEMBIT ÖPIK MAKES PROGRESS TOWARDS DRUGS MEETING WITH PRIME MINISTER (Montgomeryshire Liberal Democrats)

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Montgomeryshire Liberal Democrats <montlibdems@gmail.com>

LEMBIT ÖPIK MAKES PROGRESS TOWARDS DRUGS MEETING WITH PRIME MINISTER

March 25, 2009 2:02 PM

Lembit Öpik, Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire, questioned the Prime Minister today on the Government's strategy to tackle the illegal drugs trade.

Speaking in the Commons, he said:

"A new European Commission report on drugs shows that despite prohibition the illegal drugs trade has thrived, creating what the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, describes as a "staggering" criminal market, destabilising health policies and entire countries.

"As such, will the Leader of the House please convey my request to meet the Prime Minister to propose a comprehensive impact assessment of current drugs policy, to help us tackle this crisis in an evidence-based way?"

In response, Harriet Harman MP, Leader of the House, answering on behalf of the Prime Minister who is this week attending the G20 conference, said:

"I will pass on his request to the Prime Minister who I'm sure will agree that we need to make sure that every bit of support is available to those who are addicted to drugs and we need to crack down hard on dealers."

Afterwards, Lembit said

"I am very encouraged indeed by Harriet Harman's response. It makes me very optimistic that we will indeed get the meeting I requested with Gordon Brown. I strongly believe we have ineffective drugs policies in the UK which make the situation worse, not better. Unfortunately, MPs seem afraid to say so, and even more afraid to look at alternatives such as regulated supply, or the urgent need to prescribe heroin more widely. It's as if this taboo is greater than the damage existing policy creates.

"I'm not going to be quiet about this any more. Someone has to stand up and challenge our low level of research into the costs and benefits of the current drugs laws. Working with the campaigning group Transform and others, I believe we can and will change things for the better. It is to the Government's great credit that they seem willing to hear the case for this evidence based approach. It will now be our challenge to argue the case for the impact assessment. I'm fully committed to making that goal a key target, for the interests of Britain and all those people whose lives have been harmed by drug addiction."

Transform Head of Research Steve Rolles added:

"UK drug enforcement policy is unique in terms of delivering the exact opposite of its stated outcomes, consistently for decades - massive levels of drug misuse, health damage, and crime. This huge expenditure is also unique in the lack of scrutiny it has been subject to with regards to cost effectiveness or attempts to quantify these unintended negative consequences. Such scrutiny is long overdue and we welcome this initiative from Mr Öpik."

Ends/diwedd

Notes to editor:

For a full copy of Lembit's question please see today's Hansard.