'Remove criminal penalties for drug users' - Virgin founder urges

onnaedo

March 4, 2015 1:49 PM

Branson is of the opinion that the UK should follow the footsteps of Portugal in decriminalising drugs.

Virgin founder, Richard Branson has urged the United Kingdom to decriminalise the use and possession of almost all drugs, The Guardian UK reports.

Branson is not alone in this call, UK deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg shares this sentiment and the pair will address a conference on fighting drug addiction on Wednesday, arguing that the "war on drugs has failed".

“As an investment, the war on drugs has failed to deliver any returns, if it were a business, it would have been shut down a long time ago. This is not what success looks like" they argue.

They state further:

“The idea of eradicating drugs from the world by waging a war on those who use them is fundamentally flawed for one simple reason: it doesn’t reduce drug taking. The Home Office’s own research, commissioned by Liberal Democrats in government and published a few months ago, found there is no apparent correlation between the ‘toughness’ of a country’s approach and the prevalence of adult drug use. This devastating conclusion means that we are wasting our scarce resources, and on a grand scale" they conclude.

Branson is of the opinion that the UK should follow the footsteps of Portugal in decriminalising drugs. Portugal decriminalised all drugs in 2001. Since then, the country has seen drug abuse by half, with the money previously spent on prohibition enforcement spent instead on reconnecting drug addicts with society.

“Drugs remain illegal and socially unacceptable, as they should be, but drug users are dealt with through the civil rather than the criminal law. Anyone who is arrested for drug possession is immediately assessed and sent for treatment or education. If they fail to engage, they have to pay a fine.”

This is the position which Clegg is urging the UK to adopt on the fight against drugs.

AlthoughBranson is known to never endorse party politics, the billionaire business man is willing to endorse specific campaigns, and as a member on the global commission on drugs policy has called for an international rethink on drugs laws.

onnaedo