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Inspector Jim Duffy, Chairman of the Scottish Police Federation ” We should legalise all drugs currently covered by the Misuse of Drugs Act – everything from class A to C, including heroin, cocaine and speed. “We are not winning the war against drugs and we need to think about different ways to tackle it. Tell me a village where they are drug-free?” Taken from the article: SCOTTISH POLICE IN CALL TO LEGALISE ALL DRUGS The Scottish Daily Mail, Thursday April 13 2006 (see below for rest) -------------------- Big Transform greetings to you all. Apologies for the lateness of this newsletter - Danny & Steve have been to a conference in Vancouver (so expect a report on that next month), and I’ve been away, so that’s our excuses! But whilst the Transform offices have been unusually quiet there’s been more than the usual news on the drug policy front: the Scottish Police Federation have called for an end to prohibition! Read about it below… As always – please remember that you can do a lot more than just read this newsletter -discuss the issues on the Transform forum, help publicise Transform and the website, make a donation, read the ‘what you can do’ bit *see bottom of the news letter*, and get active! -------------------- -Please keep your comments, ideas, stories and contactss coming in. e-mail: info@tdpf.org.uk , -Forward this onto your friends; subscribers can join by visiting: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/Contact.htm -All previous newsletters are viewable on our website should you have missed them or only just signed up: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/Newsletter.htm -Make a donation – as ever we need financial support to maintain the organisation…set up a regular donation online here: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/index_online_giving_links.htm Thanks for reading! Until next month, Fran Kellett Transform Drug Policy Foundation
Contents ----1. UK NEWS-----
* Scottish Police in call to legalise all drugs * Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) reply * ‘Tackling Drugs Changing Lives’ Day * Met must collar the cokehead glitterati * Change of Home Office & Drug Strategy personnel *Casey Hardison – psychonaut appeals 20 year sentence * UK Links
---- 2. INTERNATIONAL NEWS ----
* Break addiction to senseless war on drugs * New challenge to US drug policy in Andes * Drug legalization opponents win court battle *International Links & Books
----3. WHAT TRANSFORM HAS BEEN UP TO-----
* Job vacancy at Transform *International Harm Reduction Conference in Vancouver *Publicity *Prohibition is the problem - Find out who’s part of the solution *Publications
---- 4. WHAT YOU CAN DO ---- *Write to your MP if you have one – or visit them! *Get active online *Help with our fundraising!
** SCOTTISH POLICE IN CALL TO LEGALISE ALL DRUGS Quoted from: The Scottish Daily Mail (As the Scottish Daily Mail isn’t produced on-line, here are the highlights): “POLICE officers are calling for all drugs to be legalised in Scotland. In a hugely controversial move, an influential group of frontline officers is demanding a radical change in the law. They say that even Class A drugs such as cocaine and heroin should no longer be illegal. The call comes from rank and file police in the country’s biggest force who say radical measures are essential to tackle the spiralling drug problem. Strathclyde Police Federation which represents nearly all 7,700 officers in the area, says all drugs should be licensed for use by addicts. … The association says millions of pounds are wasted on futile efforts to tackle the issue, with resources diverted from other police duties. … Inspector Jim Duffy chairman of the federation, said the approach to drug abuse must be transformed in order to cut the death toll. He said:” We should legalise all drugs currently covered by the Misuse of Drugs Act – everything from class A to C, including heroin, cocaine and speed. “We are not winning the war against drugs and we need to think about different ways to tackle it. Tell me a village where they are drug-free?” He added: “Despite the amount of resources and the fantastic work our girls and guys do, we are not making a difference. We don’t have any control at the moment". … Strathclyde Police Federation plans to table a discussion motion at the body’s forthcoming national conference to garner support from officers across Scotland”. And on page 5 of the Mail: “So should hard drugs be legalised? YES : Says Danny Kushlick "Drugs should be made legal and the change should be made now. For too long the Government has sat back and failed to admit its mistakes while illegal drugs are flooding the country. The only ones to benefit are the dealers cashing in on those who take drugs. There is increasingly clear evidence that the attempt to eliminate drugs is not only ineffective, but counter-productive. It has created an illegal market that fuels crime and violence from the poppy fields of Afghanistan to small-town Scotland. Than criminal reach of dealers in this illicit trade extends from money laundering to political corruption, from civil wars to terrorism. But these problems are not created by the drugs themselves. They are a direct result of prohibition – the international policy that creates this vast illegal market. Just as it did in 1920s America, prohibition stimulates crime by turning lucrative markets over to gangsters. And prohibition no only creates crime but increases the dangers of drugs themselves. The first laws to prohibit drugs such as opium and cocaine were passed less than a century ago. They were extended into international anti-drug treaties at t eh urging of prohibition-era America and into UK law under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. For a policy that aims to eliminate drug supply and use, it has failed in spectacular style. Over the past 40 years, illegal drug use has risen by at least 300 per cent. Attempts to curtail drug supply have been equally ineffective, with drugs now cheaper and more available than ever. Billions in taxpayers’ money are spent each year on a policy that achieves the exact opposite of its states aim. When high demand for drugs collides with laws that prohibit them, the result is a dramatic rise in drug prices. The hugely lucrative opportunities that this creates attract the violent criminal entrepreneurs who now control the world’s largest criminal market, worth $300billion a year. Inflated drug prices mean low income drug users often resort to property crime or prostitution to support their habits. The Government estimates this relatively small population of dependent heroin and cocaine users is now responsible for 54 per cent of robberies, 70-80 per cent of burglaries, 85 per cent of shoplifting and 95 per cent of street prostitution. And prohibition criminalises millions of otherwise law-abiding adults. This makes it unparalled in its contribution to prison overcrowding and the wider crisis in the criminal justice system. All drugs, whether legal or illegal, have their dangers. Minimising these dangers will always be a public health challenge. But by turning drug production and supply over to gangsters and dealers peddling dangerous substances of unknown strength and purity, prohibition increases thee risks and maximises harm. The basic regulatory options are already in place for currently legal drugs. Different drugs will require different regulatory regimes. But we can learn from past successes and failures. Drug policy is at a turning point, presenting a unique opportunity to plan for the transition from criminal anarchy to government regulation. This is not a debate that invites fence-sitters and Strathclyde Police Federation has courageously climbed down”. -------------------- **LEAP response: This story was picked up in the US by Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP – a group of serving and retired police who support drug law reform), who sent this reply: Jack A. Cole Letter to the editor Daily Mail Scotland (UK) LEGALIZED REGULATION OF DRUGS WILL SAVE LIVES "Three cheers for the courageous officers of the Strathclyde Police Federation, which is “calling for all drugs to be legalised in Scotland.” In my 26 years as a U.S. cop, with 12 of those years doing drug work, I came to realize what should have been obvious to me the first day I pinned on a badge—that drug prohibition will never work. After 36 years of fighting the war on drugs with a U.S. budget of over a-trillion-dollars, my country has quadrupled our prison population in the last 20 years, and every year we arrest another 1.7 million people for nonviolent drug offences. Despite all this money so ill spent and all those ruined lives, today drugs are cheaper, more potent, and far easier for our children to get than they were in 1970 when I started buying them as an undercover officer. And according to the U.S. government, the 4 million people who had used an illegal drug before the war started had increased to 110 million by the year 2001. That is the very essence of a failed public policy. I now lead LEAP, an organization created to give voice to law-enforcers around the world who know the war on drugs is not only an abject failure but a terribly destructive policy. Polls show 73 per cent of the U.S. public and 67 per cent of U.S. police chiefs agree with that statement. Today we have over 5,000 members in 65 countries and we are not just police. We are judges, prosecutors, prison wardens, DEA and FBI agents. LEAP knows legalized regulation is a more ethical and efficient policy than prohibition for controlling drugs in our society. Legalizing drugs will not solve all of the problems related to drug abuse in our society but it will greatly reduce the incidence of death, disease, crime, and addiction that result from drug prohibition". JACK A. COLE Executive Director, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Medford, Massachusetts USA ------------------- Transform were delighted to hear about the moves being made by the Scottish Police federation – who have been at the forefront of this debate for a number of years. Whilst the call is not yet official Federation policy – such a high profile engagement with this issue is hugely important for the public and political discourse. We hope it will embolden police in other areas, including the English Police Federation and ACPO, to take a more proactive role in the debate. -------------------- **Tackling Drugs Changing Lives Day 23rd May 2006 The government have set up the above day to promote their campaign and : -To provide a framework within which Drug Action Teams can showcase and celebrate local drug action projects across the country. For more information see : http://www.drugs.gov.uk/communications-and-campaigns/tackling-drugs/tdclday/ Transform’s press release on the day is here: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/MediaNews_PressReleases_19_05_06_Tackling_%20Drugs_Day.htm
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The following article appeared in the Evening Standard – Transforms published reply is below… **MET MUST COLLAR THE COKEHEAD GLITTERATI Nick Cohen, 5 April “Charles Clarke turned from a podgy Home Secretary shuffling papers into Clint Eastwood confronting a doomed punk. "I am today sending the organised criminal underworld a clear message," he snarled, as he squared his shoulders, narrowed his eyes and launched the Serious Organised Crime Agency. "Be afraid."
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The following letter was published in The Standard letter’s page under a headline ‘Making drugs legal would end violence’: Like Sir Ian Blair, who he liberally praises, Nick Cohen blames the ' hypocrisy of middleclass drug users' in 'many London circles' for fuelling violence in Colombia and on the streets Jamaica and the UK, as well as filling our prisons with 'wretched drug mules'. But like Blair, he makes a serious error in failing to acknowledge that it is drug prohibition that is the direct cause of these problems rather than the use of cocaine itself. Prohibition artificially inflates the price of cocaine 30-fold to a point where it is literally worth more than its weight in gold, and it is these extreme profits that attract the violent entrepreneurs causing havoc from Brixton to Bogata. Cohen's distaste for London's cocaine scene is his personal view, but should not be conflated with a misunderstanding of the problems relating to the illegal cocaine trade. He asks us to see the bigger picture, but is himself blinkered to the real problem by his own preoccupation with the contemporary drug culture. His proposed solution, to 'send the cops into Mayfair parties, make arrests and put a few celebs in the dock' would be as utterly futile as the promised crackdown on trafficking by the new Serious Organised Crime Agency. The chaos of illegal markets will be with us as long as demand remains high and drugs remains illegal. In a detailed report the Prime Minister himself commissioned in 2003, produced by John Birt and the No 10 Strategy Unit, the futility of throwing more resources at supply side drug enforcement was made abundantly clear. The report notes for example that; “The scale of disruption required to reduce the supply of class A drugs sustainably is not achievable, even with more resources”, and that ‘Supply interruption has been ineffective world-wide in reducing the overall availability of drugs; and it has had little or no impact on reducing harms in the UK”. For decades the heavy handed enforcement approach has failed in spectacular style, actively exacerbating many of the problems it is intended to solve, unjustly criminalising millions, and maximising the harms associated with drugs. If Cohen and others are serious about addressing the problems of illegal drug markets they should join the growing ranks calling for a legal, taxed and regulated alternative. Only this will put the gangsters out of business and enable us to deal with drugs as the public health issue they clearly are.
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**Change of Home Office & Drug Strategy personnel There has been a shuffle of both ministers and civil servants recently –Vernon Coker MP is now head of drug strategy (and Parliamentary under secretary of state) rather than Paul Goggins, and John Reid has taken over as Drugs uber-boss (Home Secretary) from Charles Clarke. [Tabloid coverage of the new drugs minister: http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006220562,00.html ]
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**Casey Hardison In a case that is both fascinating and disturbing, Casey, an American living in the UK, and fully fledged psychonaut (dedicated to exploring the strange world of mind altering hallucinogens) has been arrested and convicted of LSD manufacture in Britain. He is now contesting the case in the human rights court. He initially acted as his own lawyer during his case and, instead of arguing he did not commit the acts, he argued that he had a fundamental human right to engage in his chosen entheogenic religion. The court rejected the argument and Casey was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Apr 22, 2005. Casey has submitted the enhanced human rights arguments simultaneously to the European Court of Human Rights and to the United Kingdom Court of Appeals directly challenging the drug laws as an affront to free thought, therapeutic choice and free religion. For more detail see: http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/hardison_casey/hardison_casey.shtml and for his defence arguments (pdf): http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/hardison_casey/hardison_casey_defence_of_entheogen_use.pdf He has an Appeal Hearing at 10:30am, Thursday May 25th in Court Room 8 at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL. The Application for Leave to Appeal against Conviction will be heard first followed by Appeal against Sentence if appeal of conviction is denied.
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---Useful UK links--&--Upcoming events-- *Links: http://forum.tdpf.org.uk/forum/ - Discuss the latest news stories on the Transform discussion forum http://www.dailydose.net - excellent daily/weekly round up of news (free subscription), links and a peerless searchable UK drug news archive. http://www.thehempire.com - Cannabis news (and wider drug issues), quality free monthly news email and great website. The best and most up to date of the cannabis oriented sites. Release (“Drugs, the law and human rights”) have just started a newsletter. Read their 2 nd edition here: http://www.release.org.uk/newsletter/newsletter.php?id=4
---- 2. INTERNATIONAL NEWS ----
** BREAK ADDICTION TO SENSELESS WAR ON DRUGS Stanley Crouch “Could one group of scientists be so far off as to come up with a completely incorrect reading of the medicinal value of the drug (cannabis)? I doubt it - and so do many others who feel that right-wing politics have trumped science yet again. But that, it seems to me, is the least important issue connected to the legalization of drugs. The three most important reasons to call a ceasefire in the insane "war" we've been fighting for decades are the reduction of crime, the expansion of the tax base and the contribution to the economy”. Read on: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/411433p-348028c.html -------------------- ** NEW CHALLENGE TO U.S. DRUG POLICY IN ANDES Peruvian Candidate's Pledge to Halt Coca Eradication Follows Breaks in Cooperation by Neighbors Tuesday, April 18, 2006 “Like the recently elected Bolivian president, Evo Morales, Ollanta Humala has campaigned against the coca eradication programs that are central to an anti-drug plan in the Andes. "We're going to protect the coca grower, and we're going to stop the forced eradication of their crops," For the rest of the story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/17/AR2006041701360.html
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** DRUG LEGALIZATION SUPPORTERS WIN COURT BATTLE Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (see February newsletter) sued the DOE (Dept for Education) for not releasing the number of students denied federal aid because of a law passed in 1998 disqualifying students from financial aid if they were convicted of possession or selling drugs. They recently won a significant part of this battle: http://www.collegiatetimes.com/news/1/ARTICLE/6976/2006-04-19.html
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** INTERNATIONAL LINKS & BOOKS --Law Enforcement Against Prohibition: www.leap.cc A group of serving and retired police who are campaigning for the legalisation and regulation of drugs. --Keeping the Door Open (KDO), http://www.keepingthedooropen.com/ A brilliant Canadian drug law reform organisation who’s mission is: “ In KDO’s shared vision of the future, problematic substance use is understood to be a complex social, cultural, health, and economic issue. Substance users are effectively engaged in systems of care, and live harmoniously within inclusive communities, and are given the opportunity to live healthy and dignified lives.” * Students for sensible drug policy - http://www.ssdp.org/ “With hundreds of thousands of Americans behind bars for drug offences, why are drugs purer and more prevalent than ever? With billions of dollars invested in incarceration and interdiction, why are treatment needs continually unmet? Why has the government sacrificed our freedom, safety, and health to the Drug War? Students for Sensible Drug Policy is committed to providing education on harms caused by the War on Drugs, working to involve youth in the political process, and promoting an open, honest, and rational discussion of alternative solutions to our nation's drug problems.“
----3. WHAT TRANSFORM HAS BEEN UP TO----- * Drug Harm Reduction Conference in Vancouver attended by the Director & Information Officer: http://www.harmreduction2006.ca/ 30 th April to 6 th May and featuring extra sessions run by KDO: www.keepingthedooropen.com - who support progressive drug law reform. There will be a full report on the conference and related events in the next newsletter.
*Job Vacancy at Transform Office Manager position – for more information visit: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/AboutUs_JobVacancies.htm
* PUBLICITY -Transform were seen and heard in Spain this month, as Steve was interviewed for Spanish TV. -Article in Cambridge Evening News: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/city/2006/04/06/376645fe-b26c-47ff-897d-2c8e33a96815.lpf -The Evening Standard printed a Transform reply to an opinion piece By Nick Cohen (see above in UK News) -Strathclyde Police Federation’s breaking news (see above) was picked up by numerous media, and Transform were featured in the Scottish Daily Mail, BBC Scotland News and on Saga Radio.
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**FIND OUT WHO’S PART OF THE SOLUTION: Transform has launched an archive of quotes – supportive of drug law reform - collected over a number of years, from politicians, opinion formers, criminal justice, celebrities, the non-governmental sector & religious leaders. Read the impressive list(s) here: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/MediaNews_Reform_supporters.htm Any suggested additions? Send them, with references please, to steve@tdpf.org.uk
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**PUBLICATIONS: NEW briefings - April 2006 Clause 2 of the Drugs Act - an example of how to make bad policy
Other recent publications: *AFTER THE WAR ON DRUGS OPTIONS FOR CONTROL The updated version has finally arrived back from the printers. Please get in touch if you would like a hard copy, otherwise download a pdf version from the front page of our website: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/Policy_General_AftertheWaronDrugsReport.htm
*PUBLICITY LEAFLET “Illegal Drugs.” Copies are available in print – get in touch if you would like one, or even a whole bunch of them. You can download a pdf version from here: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/Parliament_WhatYouCanDo.htm#leaflet
*ANNUAL REPORT A pdf version is available here, and get in touch if you’d like a copy all your own : http://www.tdpf.org.uk/AboutUs_AnnualReport.htm .
-------------------- **FUNDING As ever our funding needs remain pressing…. ideas, contacts and suggestions are always welcome, and PLEASE - if you haven’t already - sign up online to make a regular donation, however small, to the organisation. It can really make a difference. http://www.tdpf.org.uk/support_Transform.htm Our secure online donation page administered by the Charities Aid Foundation. Donations can be one off or regular, large or small. Please give generously - we need your support. (Transform relies solely on donations from individuals and charitable trusts to maintain its work) We can also accept ‘Give as you earn’ payroll donations: visit your payroll office to pick up a donor instruction form and visit the CAF website. Our registration number is: 000476760.
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**GET TO WORK ON YOUR MP. If you haven’t done this yet – Get on with it! You pay their wages to represent your views. Write to them, email them, pay them a visit. Its easy and effective campaigning….. **FIND OUT HOW YOUR MP VOTES Every week, a dozen or so times, your MP votes in the UK Parliament. This is their definitive exercise of power. The Public Whip extracts their voting record from the pages of the Parliamentary transcript so that you can see it and hold them to account. Start off by writing to your MP/councillor and ask them their views on the current drug policy. Ask their opinion on the ‘War on Drugs’, the fact that it isn’t working and what they think should be done. They have a duty to reply, and then you can begin a dialogue. Remember always to be polite however much you may disagree with them! Book a visit to their surgery - you can meet with them and discuss any issue that you fancy. Its really easy! One of our volunteers visited his MP, who just happened to be Charles Clarke – the (former) Home Secretary! The meeting was very positive, and various Transform materials were passed on. Transform provided a detailed briefing and training before the visit. Call us for help.
Do you know who your MP is?! They may have changed since the election. Find out here: http://www.locata.co.uk/commons **Try writing/e-mailing your local paper or a national paper. Look out for drug related stories in newspapers (and other publications) and respond in the letters pages. Here’s evidence to show it works: we promise ‘DJ Welch’ is not a put up job, he wrote to the Observer of his own volition: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,,1451131,00.html Transform representatives regularly visit there MPs, and with our help have had very productive discussions. Its one of the most effective and easiest things you can do. Transform supporters have eeven had meetings with ministers including the Home Secretary.
-------------------- **ONLINE ACTIVISM The internet gives you the opportunity to engage the drug law reform debate as never before. There are literally thousands of online forums, discussion groups, and media feedback opportunities where you can get involved and inject a little common sense into the debate.
MP websites: A number of MPs now have fairly fancy websites where you can post comments or discuss issues on forums. Check out http://www.shaunwoodward.com/go/Issues/Issue_2.html for example. Transform’s Steve Rolles has posted a few times there. Check whether your MP has a website (and if he doesn’t email them anyway).
*A new discussion forum has popped up on the Government drugs site – no ones really used it yet so maybe it needs some Transform supporters to help liven it up a bit. Have a go – and let us know what response you get… http://www.drugs.gov.uk/talking-shop/forum/
*Try some other unlikely places…… The Daily Mail for example; a long time bastion of reactionary Drug War thinking has recently begun to open up to more progressive policy ideas. Whether you like the paper or not, the fact remains that it is highly influential in Whitehall and read by millions of floating voters. Many news stories and opinion pieces offer an opportunity to add comments at the end – so if you see a drug story that you think doesn’t tell the whole story – let them know!
*Guardian Talk – a good place to start – there’s usually a few good drug policy threads and if you cant find any – start one! (you need to register for this site) http://www.guardian.co.uk/index/talk/0,3109,162311,00.html
*THEY WORK FOR YOU: A brilliant independent website doing what Hansard should be doing – ie providing easy access to parliamentary debate and publications. You can post commentaries next to MPs comments in the house. Searchable by MP or by key words you can add your own comments to any comment made by anyone in the house. There are frequent debates on drug issues (you can set up an email alert on any individual or key word) so do a search, find some incoherent warblings from some misinformed MP - and set them straight!
*For more help with raising awareness through the media see below and the ‘What you can do page’ on the TDPF site here; http://www.tdpf.org.uk/Parliament_WhatYouCanDo.htm For further advice please call the Transform office on 0117 941 5810. Send in your media tips, suggestions for web activism warnings, successes and failures - we’ll include them here. -------------------- Please pass this newsletter onto your friends - subscribers can join by visiting: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/Contact.htm For other ideas and more details on what you can do see : http://www.tdpf.org.uk/Parliament_WhatYouCanDo.htm For more information and analysis: www.tdpf.org.uk Transform Drug Policy Foundation is a registered charity no: 1100518 The organisations, agencies, and information linked from www.tdpf.org.uk represent a variety of viewpoints from across the drug policy field. Transform is not responsible for the contents of sites linked on this newsletter, and does not automatically endorse linked information. Any suggested additions or corrections please email info@tdpf.org.uk If you have received this mail in error, or if would like to unsubscribe from the list, just click reply/e-mail info@tdpf.org.uk with ‘unsubscribe me‘ as the subject. Fran Kellett Transform Drug Policy Foundation Easton Business Centre Felix Road Easton Bristol BS5 0HE email: fran@tdpf.org.uk Telephone: +44 0117 941 5810 Facsimile: +44 0117 941 5809 website: www.tdpf.org.uk To subscribe to Transform's newsletter visit: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/Contact.htm This document accompanying this transmission may contain confidential information, which may be legally privileged. This information is intended for the use of the named individual. You are notified that any disclosure, copying and distribution is prohibited. If you receive this message in error please delete it.
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