British Deputy Prime Minister Supports Drug Policy Review, Prime Minister Disagrees
Nick Clegg, the British deputy prime minister, has called on the government to consider reviewing its drug policy. Unfortunately for Clegg, Prime Minister David Cameron has already rejected a committee's recommendation to consider looking at other drug polices such as decriminalization.
Clegg, a Liberal Democrat, has had his fair share of disagreements with the prime minister, and oftentimes he takes the wrong side. This time he has not.
From the BBC:
"We can't be complacent, we owe it to the many many children in this country who still get snarled up by drugs, whose education chances are blighted by drugs, whose health is damaged by drugs, we owe it to them to constantly restlessly look for better ways of dealing with the scourge of drugs," he said.
"After all, this is a war, the war on drugs, in which over 2,000 people are losing their lives in Britain every year, in which one in five 11-15 year olds in this country now say they're trying drugs, where young people now are telling us that it's easier to get hold of drugs than it is to get hold of alcohol or tobacco.
"I think those facts alone suggest that, yes of course we should do the good work that we are doing as a coalition government, but we should also be open-minded enough to look at whatever alternative approaches help us help those children more effectively in the future."
Ed Miliband, the leader of the opposition, also opposes drug decriminalization.
A recent poll indicates that 60 percent of Britons support a review of drug policy, as do 59 percent of those who intend to vote for the Conservatives. Considering that Labour is now polling 10 points ahead of the Conservatives and that the Liberal Democrats are polling below parties that don't have any seats in the House of Commons, it might be worth the prime minister supporting a commission to at least have a look at alternative drug policies.
