The Misuse of Drugs Act has failed utterly and there is no political consensus about the idea of trying anything new.
It is 40 years since Parliament passed the Misuse of Drugs Act, establishing the framework that, with periodic tweaks, is used for controlling substance abuse today. Actual drug use has been going on a lot longer, so it is hardly surprising that one legal instrument has failed to kill the habit.
It is remarkable, however, how utterly the system has failed. Drugs are available to anyone who really wants them. The classification system of substances into degrees of harmfulness – A for the worst, C for the least bad – is ignored by users and dismissed by many scientists. Its only practical use seems to be in determining prison sentences and filling our jails with drug users has had no deterrent effect on use.
Source: Editorial in The Observer (UK), 15/05/2011
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