The Labour Party has no plans for sensible drug reform
Their reasoning is frankly bollocks
Sir Keir Starmer is saying he won’t introduce drug reform when he becomes prime minister in yet another example of how he is hopelessly out of touch. 6 out of 10 Britons believe that criminalising drugs is futile and less than a quarter of the public think our current approach is effective at preventing consumption.
Drug reform is such a no brainer. It would save money and be supported by the public, and no, it wouldn’t turn younger generations into drug addicts!
Portugal’s drug reforms reduced its number of heroin users by 75%, gave it the lowest drug death rate in Europe (one tenth of the UK’s) and reduced the cost to the public by 18%. It’s amazing what can be done when you have a grown up approach instead of treating the public like the enemy, isn’t it?
So why won’t Starmer bother with such a sensible policy? Well, his reasoning was a non-answer: he is focused on his five missions, which you might remember replaced his ten pledges that he ditched after becoming Labour leader.
“We’re going to have a huge amount on our plate.
“I’m going to be laser-focused on the five missions for government I’ve set out. And we don’t have the bandwidth for very much else, I’m afraid.”
Bandwidth for what exactly? Not needlessly prosecuting people?
He might as well have said: “I know our current approach is shit, but I can’t be arsed to change it.”
What he actually went on to say was:
“Other countries will take different approaches, they traditionally have, but our approach is settled and not really a subject of great debate, even within the Labour Party.”
But this is not true!
Even David Blunkett, the former Labour home secretary, has urged Starmer to launch an inquiry into the decriminalisation of drugs. London mayor Sadiq Khan introduced pilot schemes to stop the prosecution of young people caught in possession of cannabis.
Does this sound like there is no debate in the Labour Party? And let’s look outside the Labour Party…
A leaked document revealed the Tory government’s own drug advisers recommended decriminalisation back in 2016 because it’s the logical thing to do. The Scottish government recently called for drug decriminalisation, but the idea was rejected by the Tories of both the blue and red variety.
According to one YouGov poll, 53% of the public are in favour of cannabis legalisation, but Starmer has decided there is no debate because he doesn’t want a debate.
No one apart from a few dinosaurs in the Tory Party thinks the war on drugs is a good idea, but Starmer thinks if he says something, it makes it true, as though he has the power to shape reality, or public opinion anyway. Only the public don’t agree with him. If this is considered a “settled issue” when the electorate don’t approve, it’s another indication our system isn’t particularly democratic.
The fact is penalising someone for recreational drug use helps no one. As we all know, decriminalisation can be effective in reducing drug use as long as addicts are given the proper support.
Across Europe and North America, we are seeing a softer approach to drugs with decriminalisation of cannabis being a particular focus, but the Labour Party is not interested. Here is the real reason why:
Rachel Reeves is offering austerity forever to the despair of economists and the working class. She even boasts her policies must have the approval of the Office of Budget Responsibility which was set up by George Osborne to “change the way budgets are made forever” (not in a good way). Imagine siding with the architects of austerity instead of its victims and calling yourself “Labour”.
Labour is offering the same fiscal policies that proved so unpopular, they drove the working class to vote for Brexit in a desperate yet futile attempt to change the system. Reeves is now boasting there is no escape from the system.
Polls show Starmer is likely to become our next prime minister with the lowest favourability rating of a new prime minister ever (currently -25) and favourability ratings only go down with time.
The war on drugs helps no one, but it gives the authorities an excuse to penalise the working-class while ignoring middle-class drug use, and in the coming years, the establishment is going to use every tool at its disposal to control us. They’re doing this because they’re not on our side.
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I'm a bit sick of the way the media depicts people who use cannabis as lazy and stupid.
When you have a medical need, CBDs are a much healrhier alternative to addictive opioids.
Looks like both of our governments need to get a clue. :)
“Labour” (when did they last deserve that name) thinks being elected is much more important than not being like Tories. It’s the same in Aotearoa New Zealand. We don’t have an actual left wing party here and neither do you in the UK. Surely, surely, there’s a need for one. In fact, many. Joe Biden is more left wing than Keir Starmer and goodness knows you’d hardly accuse the US Democrats of being left wing. Shame on you, Starmer.