Drugs and Addiction

Under this section is:

Tobacco
Alcohol
All currently semi legal and illegal drugs
Gambling
Social Media

All changes in this section have to be made in the context of broader changes to improve the lives and well being of those at the bottom end of society.

Decriminalise and Reclassify

Countries cannot legalise drugs. It would lead to US sanction. So all penalties for drug use and possession would be removed. The drugs 'problem' would be reclassified as a health issue, similar to how smoking and alcoholism is dealt with today.

The most immediate impact of this is in terms of law and order. The police will immediately be freed up from drugs investigations. The impact this will have on their budget cannot be under estimated. The additional resources should be focused on street safety specifically for women, organised gang crime and white collar crimes.

One of the plus points for the current status quo of the war on drugs is that it keeps a proportion of the poor out of circulation, not voting and not caring about money being passed to the wealthy. It also means you can keep a militarised police force because of these dangerous drug lords. There will be voices who will scoff and legalising drugs despite there being decades of evidence that it doesn't work. Just ask why they do this.

License Production and Supply

Specific pharmaceutical companies would be licensed to produce the currently illegal drugs. They would, where possible, be chemically modified if that helps the health issue. For example, legal cannabis production could remove or reduce the chemical components that are more likely to cause mental health issues amongst users.

There are companies today licenses to produce the morphine used in the NHS, many of the poppies used are grown in the Swindon area. Whilst it can be private pharmaceutical companies licensed to produce these drugs, they will not be allowed to own farms growing raw ingredients. They will remain with farmers subject to the changes in this area set out elsewhere in this Manifesto.

If at all possible, all production would be kept in the UK and not outsourced globally, except where ingredients cannot be sourced in the UK.

The immediate improvement in the quality of the product would give massive savings to the NHS in terms of treatments. The evidence on the streets of addicts in wheelchairs with limbs amputated because of their drug use being a dirty activity costs this country a massive amount in terms of healthcare. This can be removed. It is known that many people can be addicts and work in society, there are known examples of this in the medical profession, Queen Victoria is always held up as an example of an addict who functioned fine. Addicts can be productive if they do not have to work out who to rob or burgle next to get the next filthy fix. If they can be given a decent quality product, they may also be able to do productive things with their life as well.

Tax

Obviously the drugs will be subject to taxation. The drugs more often taken by middle classes and the well off (cocaine, cannabis) will be taxed more heavily, some of the teenage drugs, less so, and less again on the drugs used by the poor. The aim will be that, like with tobacco, the tax will pay for the corresponding healthcare costs, plus some of the other costs of discouraging drug use. This is proven to work with tobacco, it can work with currently illegal drugs too.

Sale and Shooting Galleries

Sale will be through licensed small pharmacies. They will also be required to set up safe spaces where the drugs can be taken and all kit safely disposed of without being shared. In the short term, a team of drug professionals will also respond to 999 calls currently dealt with by Police and Ambulance workers, where drug addicts on on the streets. They will be taken to these safe places and supported. Any place that sells drugs will also be staffed with professionals who can help with addiction issues and giving up drugs should a user ask for this help.

Alcohol

Alcohol sales online and through large supermarkets would be banned. All alcohol would need to be sold through licensed premises that will be small specialised retailors, all located in high streets. These changes would be made in conjunction with the high street changes mentioned elsewhere in this Manifesto but it would mean increased activity for smaller local high streets. The price of off license alcohol sales will be leveled so that per millilitre, the price of the alcohol purchased would equal the price sold in pubs. This would be to try and encourage alcohol purchase within pubs and restaurants.

Gambling

The deregulation of the gambling industry that occurred under Blair would be reviewed. Gambling advertising would be banned. Grambling would be subject to higher taxation to ensure that it paid for all anti-gambling support provided by the Government plus debt write offs given to addicted gamblers.

Online gambling would only be possible using the Government ID mentioned in the Manifesto section on Government, and action could be taken if addiction issues are identified including banning the ability of that profile to gamble.

Social Media

Social media will be phased out for under 18's unless the social media companies can reach a 99% effectiveness at removing content deemed to be harmful. This would include negative dietary posts, self harm posts, suicide posts, bullying. Compulsory parental controls will be allowed to be applied to the Government ID of the child by parental accounts.

Published 21/10/22