• Britain has the highest overall degree of drug use in Europe, according to the EU-funded European Monitoring Centre, and it is clear our current drug policy is not working.
• A peer-reviewed study in 2005 estimated that there over 320,000 regular abusers of heroin, cocaine and their derivatives.
• The same study estimated the cost of drug abuse for the taxpayer at £15.4bn per year.
• The Home Office estimates that as much as 55% of theft and property crime is drug-related.

Although we could busy ourselves with philosophy, arguing over liberty versus harm principles and who has what ‘right’ to ingest, it is more important to consider practical solutions. Drug abuse, not just in this country but all around the world, is becoming more and more a social problem, rather than just a criminal offence. While the production and sale of drugs, as well as the exploitation that accompanies them is still criminal, the abuse and dependence displayed by many is society’s predicament. Most of these users need help and therapy, not prison and punishment, with the latter only serving to harden their alienation from society.

In 2001, Portugal became the first member state of the EU to decriminalise the possession of up to 10 days supply of illicit drugs for personal use. Whilst possession was decriminalised, it remained an illicit activity, meaning that those caught were issued optional summons. These summons would bring the individual before a panel usually consisting of a social worker, psychologist, doctor or legal adviser, whose job it was to assess the individual into one of three groups; recreational user, problem developing or addicted abuser. Repeat offenders are offered therapy combined with community service, while the more serious abusers are requested to undergo drug replacement therapy to wean their addictions. Addicts are treated like human beings, albeit ones with a problem, and are offered treatment and care.

Ten years on and the results are staggering. A paper published by the Cato institute in 2009 showed that Heroin related deaths were down by more than 50% while the number of addicts seeking drug replacement therapy had more than doubled. One of the biggest success stories was the dirty needle exchange program. In chemists and health centres across Portugal, dirty needles could be exchanged for a pack containing one free needle kit, a condom and an addiction advice pamphlet, free of charge. As a consequence, HIV rates dropped by 17%.

But this is just the first step in transforming the drugs trade from an international crime-cartel into a public-health problem: Prohibition has failed and we must take further steps towards legalisation. If the business is brought out into the open, exploitation will dramatically decrease and employment opportunities will open up. Afghanistan, Pakistan and Colombia, amongst others key actors in the drug trade, would have the opportunity to strive towards genuine prosperity, and as most political analysts will tell you, widespread prosperity is a healthy boost for democracy.

Opponents will argue that legalisation will lead to higher consumption rates, but there is no correlation between the two, even between countries with similar cultures. Sweden and Norway have almost identical consumption rates, according to a report by The Economist, yet the former has very strict drug laws, and the latter relatively liberal.

The UN estimates the worldwide drug trade to cost governments £200bn per year, mainly in enforcement and imprisonment costs. Legalisation could redirect this money towards education, therapy and healthcare, as well as affording the opportunity to properly deal with addiction, rather than it being driven underground and consuming more innocent lives. It is unrealistic to install full legalization immediately, and the new system itself will not be faultless, but that does not mean we cannot take the steps that Portugal has already taken and reap the same successes.

Mylo Scurr