Why wouldn't I discriminate against all of them? A Report on ... - AIVL

Year Relevant parties Event Details Commentary2002 UK House <strong>of</strong> Commons HomeAffairs Select Committee<strong>Report</strong> entitled ‘TheGovernment’s drugs policy:is it working?’ is released.The Select Committee was mandated to review theGiven its criticisms <strong>of</strong> the Government’s drug strategy, the recommendationsgovernment’s ten-year drug strategy, put in place by Keith <strong>of</strong> the report were disappointingly timid. The report considered (and rejected)Hellawell et al in 1998. This three-year appraisal concluded outright decriminalisation (although left the door open if conditions changethat the targets set in 1998 were ‘unmeasurable and in the future), but supported the reclassification <strong>of</strong> cannabis to Class C andinsufficiently grounded in evidence’. 13the Police Foundation recommendations that MDMA should be made ClassB, while maintaining a firm ‘deterrent’ line on drug education and refusing tolower penalties for ‘social supply’. More interesting was the recommendationthat ‘the Government initiates a discussion within the Commission onNarcotic Drugs <strong>of</strong> alternative ways-including the possibility <strong>of</strong> legalisation andregulation-to tackle the global drugs dilemma.’ 14 It is this which will <strong>all</strong>owfuture policy changes to go beyond the incremental. The recommendationwas notably supported by Committee member, and prime ministerialcontender David Cameron.2002 UN Resignation <strong>of</strong> PinoArlacchi, the ExecutiveDirector <strong>of</strong> the UnitedNations Office <strong>of</strong> DrugControl and CrimePrevention (ODCCP).Arlacchi’s resignation follows a disastrous period in charge<strong>of</strong> ODCCP, during which a number <strong>of</strong> senior <strong>of</strong>ficials wereprovoked to resign by his mismanagement and refusal t<strong>of</strong>ace the fact that UN administered global prohibition wasnot delivering. This led to Arlacchi’s ruthless editing <strong>of</strong> theWorld Drug <strong>Report</strong> 2000 to reflect his illusory progress,at which point the expert Francisco Thoumi resigned indisgust.Though Arlacchi was, by the end <strong>of</strong> his term, almost univers<strong>all</strong>yacknowledged as incompetent and delusional, his downf<strong>all</strong> failed to provokea major change in UN drug policy. The internal mismanagement issues withwhich Arlacchi was associated were <strong>all</strong>owed to cloud the wider issue <strong>of</strong> thefailure <strong>of</strong> UN prohibitionist policy, and the UN 10-year drugs strategy was<strong>all</strong>owed to limp on towards its inevitable negative assessment in 2008. Theepisode briefly showed that the judicial, authoritative, impartial façade <strong>of</strong> theUnited Nations barely disguised a highly ideological US dominated (ratherthan evidence-led) drug policy.2002 UK Liberal Democrat Partylaunches new drug policy.The policy paper ‘Honesty, Realism, Responsibility:Proposals for the Reform <strong>of</strong> Drugs Law’, (written with thehelp <strong>of</strong> consultation from Transform), set out the failures <strong>of</strong>prohibition and proposed changes that would ch<strong>all</strong>enge, butremain within, the United Nations drug treaties. Treatingeach drug on an individual basis, the Lib Dems followed theRunciman <strong>Report</strong> <strong>of</strong> 2000 by proposing the reclassification<strong>of</strong> cannabis to Class C and <strong>of</strong> MDMA to Class B. It wentfurther by c<strong>all</strong>ing for the legal regulation <strong>of</strong> cannabis if UNtreaties issue could be addressed.More importantly, it was proposed that imprisonment should no longer bea punishment option, at least for <strong>of</strong>fences involving Class B and C drugs.Other proposals included a major investment in drug treatment and thereplacement <strong>of</strong> the Advisory Council on the Misuse <strong>of</strong> Drugs (ACMD) with astanding Drugs Commission, which would monitor legal as well as illegaldrugs.The new policies represented a crucial break with the other two majorpolitical parties, shattering the tripartite consensus on drug policy that hadhitherto quietly existed. The Lib Dem policies were evidence-based, rejectingartificial distinctions between the harm caused by legal and illegal drugs, andrejecting enforcement and prison as primary policy tools based on evidence<strong>of</strong> ineffectiveness. This sound apolitical basis made the Lib Dems’ laterfailure to promote their policies (which came under considerable political andideological fire) <strong>all</strong> the more bitter.2003 UK Launch <strong>of</strong> FRANK drugeducation campaign.The campaign aims to promote open discussion <strong>of</strong> drugsamong youth, parents and teachers, and to providerelatively unbiased factual information, continuing theattempt to gain credibility.Though vastly superior to US counterparts, FRANK leaves much to be desiredin terms <strong>of</strong> drugs included, harm reduction advice <strong>of</strong>fered and level <strong>of</strong> detail.A report on stigma and discrimination towards the injecting drug user community 25