Drugs: Our Community, Your Say
The Government has announced that it is to take a radical new look at its approach to drugs in Britain, building on the success of the drug strategy published in 1998.
As part of this, the Government has begun a consultation asking MPs and members of the public to put forward their views on how we can best educate young people about drugs, discourage drug use, treat drug addiction and mitigate its effects on society.
A short leaflet, available here, provides a description of the issues and also suggests 'key questions' to which the Government hopes to receive your answers. The full consultation document can be accessed here and provides a more detailed analysis of the issues to be considered. The consultation closes on Friday 19th October.
Julie is very interested to hear your views on how the Government should approach the problem of drugs in Britain and welcomes your comments on this blog or via the other means listed to the top right of the main blog page. Julie hopes to submit your views to the consultation in October, and looks forward to receiving your comments.
I come from Cardiff now live in Carmarthen, sadly over the past few years I've seen drug use grow, I once watched an eight year old lad inject himself and go into a fit.
I went over and put him into the position to allow him to live and walked away.
Why did i not call an ambulance, because the ambulance service would have told me to phone NHS direct, NHS direct would have asked me to phone his GP, and I end up going round and round for ages. SO I did call the police who said, sorry we do not have an officer available.
We have an old hut known as the drug den, it's used all the time three years ago while cleaning up the needles one full of blood stuck right through my hand, three months of drugs for Aids stopped me cleaning up, sadly I have no choice now but to clean up otherwise kids and animals will be hurt, I've reported this place so many times to be told, better here then on the streets a sad view of our police force.
I have seen lads inject themselves and kids as young as four and five watching, what can you do, not a lot.
Well after years of writing and complaining they have moved the dam hut, why not straight away.
Posted by: treborc | September 27, 2007 at 11:40 AM
This "consultation" was an insult to the intelligence of people in Britain.
Around 10% of britons use "illegal" drugs on a daily basis, yet only a tiny minority are prosecuted, which provides employment for the courts and police.
When so many of the population risk imprisonment, then the law is clearly wrong.
Why not take sniffer dogs into the banks and solicitors offices of London, to stamp out the use of cocaine?
Or is it OK for the middle and upper classes to use drugs, but not the lower classes?
Why not include alcohol and tobacco in the list of addictive substances? These two drugs kill and maim tens of thousands every month, yet are ignored as being "drugs".
What kind of system permits a pharmaceutical company to market cannabis as a pain relief, yet prosecutes private citizens for producing their own, saying there is no proven medical benefit?
Wales should follow the example of Spain and Holland and allow the citizen to choose.
Posted by: landsker | November 28, 2007 at 09:46 AM
Perhaps rather than "insult", I should have written, "less than balanced"?
Still, some consultation is better than no consultation at all.
Ta.
Posted by: landsker | December 30, 2007 at 10:32 PM
You think the 1998 drug strategy has been a success?
Posted by: Stephen | April 11, 2008 at 02:22 PM
the consultation was a complete joke,
drug policy has been a total disaster and the architects of it need locking up for their crimes,
the 'give them a bucket of methadone,' approach is both ignorant and childish,
as for alcohol and tobacco, policy has colluded with criminals to make smuggling a massive growth industry...how much did they bribe you?
Posted by: van | April 13, 2008 at 03:54 PM