The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) and the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) have called forpersonal possession and use of all illegal drugs to no longer be considered a criminal offence. Our own Sam Dumitriu thinks decriminalisation isn't far enough:

“The Royal Society for Public Health is right to call for decriminalisation. The evidence is clear, decriminalisation works. Since Portugal decriminalised personal use and possession in 2001, drug-related deaths have fallen, as have HIV infections. Likewise, fears that this would encourage greater drug usage, especially amongst young people, were unfounded. For 15 to 24 year olds, drug use actually fell.

“But, there are still problems that decriminalisation doesn't solve. It doesn't eliminate street dealing, it doesn't block access to drugs for under-18 year olds, and it doesn't allow us to regulate the purity of drugs. It should go further and call for full legalisation, which would allow us to take drug profits out of the hands of criminal gangs and protect users from tainted supplies.”

Read the full Daily Express article here.