Misuse of Drugs Act — House of Commons, 2021-06-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Grahame Mark Morris (Labour, Centre-left): I really do feel privileged to speak in this debate. It has been an absolutely terrific debate, with some fantastic contributions. I do not wish to denigrate the contributions of the hon. Members who take a different point of view, but I particularly associate myself with the remarks of my good and hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Withington (Jeff Smith), and the hon. Members for Reigate (Crispin Blunt), for Edinburgh East (Tommy Sheppard), for Inverclyde (Ronnie Cowan) and for East Lothian (Kenny MacAskill). This is an important subject, and I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting time for the debate. Clearly, we have had 50 years of failure with the Misuse of Drugs Act. Any objective analysis indicates that the current policies are not working, and for me that means it is time to try something new. There have been some terrific suggestions about pilot schemes, which I have advocated for a number of years now. Originally, I had the same views as some Government Members, but I have taken the time to get involved with the subject and to meet people like the late Ron Hogg—our former police and crime commissioner in Durham, who was extremely brave and introduced some heroin-assisted treatment programmes and diversionary programmes—and Mike Barton, our chief constable. Introducing those measures was brave because they were not popular with the general public, but they were effective in reducing crime and the number of avoidable drugs deaths, and successful in removing some of the burden from the criminal justice system Problematic drug or alcohol deaths are higher in areas of significant deprivation. I think that is a given, and it is another reason why I am very concerned about the issue. I do not consider drug use an individual moral failing; I do not make such judgments. There is a complex interplay of economic, societal and family factors that affect someone’s chances of developing substance misuse issues We need to ask ourselves what the Misuse of Drugs Act has achieved. As we have heard, in the late ’60s about 1% of adults had at some point used drugs that are now criminalised. That figure is now 34%. Heroin use has risen exponentially—25-fold since 1971. Cannabis use has risen fivefold. Tens of thousands of people have been imprisoned, and hundreds of thousands of years have been served. More enforcement will not solve the problem I am a member of the drugs, alcohol and justice all-party parliamentary group, which stands for evidence, not prejudice, in policy; and treatment, not punishment, in practice. The group is advised by Humankind, We Are With You and the Westminster Drug Project—charities that together support about 150,000 people across the UK each year. Although the third sector is well placed to support those with complex needs and vulnerabilities, and has the necessary talent, tenacity and experience to do so, it has lacked resources due to a number of years of cuts to local budgets Significant and sustained investment is needed now to rebuild and reinvigorate our services. If we do not invest, we are simply storing up problems for the future with the way services are delivered at present. In order to address health inequalities effectively and create change for the people who are most affected by these inequalities, the Government must commit to a public health approach, rather than a criminal justice approach, to drugs policy I recommend the book "Good Cop, Bad War" by Neil Woods. It is a very instructive read about the experience of an undercover policeman. It is an inconvenient truth. Indeed, Paul Townsley, the chief exec of Humankind, said: "After 50 years, it is high time the Government really committed to taking a health-first approach to drugs use. Locking people up hasn’t worked, but we know that access to high-quality treatment and support does work. Over 25 countries across the world have decriminalised possession of some or all drugs and the international evidence shows an alternative policy is possible and effective."