Another well meaning amature.Perhaps he should look at why the failure to treat addicts is unsuccessful. Post rehab only 6% of those treated give up the habit. A really cost effective exercise, would be to sack all the MEP's and use the money to provide more effective treatment. Get the success rate up to above 50%. That would cut the crime rate by millions and the treatment cost by millions. Why do we have to uffer these idiot MEP's.

Prohibition fuels drug use? What utter tosh! TWO of the worst drugs available on the market are legal to over 18's and cost this country and the NHS an absolute fortune every year, alcohol and tobacco! WHY oh WHY does this country still foot the bill for Heroin addicts through the Methadone programme when you can't get a replacement drug or other drugs on prescription when you are a registered addict? It's not prohibition that this country needs to tackle the drug problem, it's education. If someone told you that after taking Heroin you were going to have a long slow painful death, would you still take it? The only reason I can see that would help the government tackle this problem by legalising and controlling the flow of drugs is taxation but if they did take over and all recreational drugs were available over the counter and therefore doing away with the black market for drugs, what would the police and customs officers do with all that spare time and manpower? Gotta justify the jobs for the boys! Educate the people and tell them the REAL consequencies of getting into any drug including alcohol and tobacco and maybe you'll see a reduction in drug use. Advertising drugs on the telly doesn't help, splashing it all over the 6 o'clock news about this 'new' drug,meth amphetamine. The majority of people had never heard of it until it was splashed all over the news, without real thought of consequence, research into long term use and adverse side effects or current availability. Education is the key, not legislation. Prohibition don't work, they tried it in America in the 30' and it brough nothing but trouble and expandeed the black market, legalising brings about a sharp initial increase in use which tapers off naturally and educating is the greatest deterrant of all.

You can't do this, you can't do that, don't do this, don't do that, you can't go there, you can't come here, you can't look at this, you're not allowed to look at that. All things which are said by all parents to all kids without thought or explaination and what happens? Kids do the thing they're told not too! Just the same as adults are told not to do things by the government (the nanny), we do them anyway. IF we were educated as to the outcome, IF we educated the kids as to the outcome, maybe, just maybe, we wouldn't do these things and neither would our kids. Ban it and you get a backlash, educate the people and they can make up thier own mind instead of being dictated to. Tell the people the real short and long term side effects of the drugs so easily available in the country and allow us to use the FREE WILL we were born with. Don't dictate to us because you know it's bad, tell us why it's bad and how it's bad.