Zach Knott

Formal Letter

07/11/2014
Zachary Knott
46 Gray's Inn Rd
London
WC1X 8LP
United Kingdom

st
21
September 2014

Mr David Cameron
10 Downing St
London
United Kingdom
SW1A 2AA Dear Mr David Cameron,

My Views on Addressing the Uk Drug Situation

Recently, I have read the BBC article ‘Decriminalising drugs, inquiry by cross­party peers’ published 14th January 2013. The article exposes the truth about cannabis whilst stripping away the fallacies. Predominantly, the text suggests that “the least harmful (drugs) should be regulated and sold in licensed shops”, cannabis is one of the drugs aforementioned. I agree with the article that cannabis should be decriminalised for many reasons upon which
I shall expand on. Your views are known concerning this matter, however I wish to change your perspective by showing you the real life implications of your decision. To begin with, I believe, decriminalising cannabis is strongly in the interest of the people of the UK; which I presume you would support as the Prime Minister of our country.
Undoubtedly you gain millions of pounds every year from the taxing of tobacco and alcohol but what are these drugs doing to our country? Baroness Meacher told BBC Radio 4’s
Today Programme that “drugs are a great deal safer than alcohol and tobacco”. The consequences of this, all too true fact, are blatantly obvious. Professor David Nutt, a former member of the committee on safety of medicines and a renowned neuropsychopharmacologist, has reported some shocking figures. 50% of tobacco users and 20% of alcohol users die prematurely from problems caused by these drugs. In contrast only 2% of cannabis users have been reported to experience these problems

Zach Knott

Formal Letter

07/11/2014

which furthermore poses the question; if alcohol or tobacco were newly discovered today would they be classed as an illegal drug? A prime example of how decriminalisation is the way forward can be seen in the actions as exemplified by Portugal. In 2001 Portugal decriminalised the use of cannabis and as a result “there has been a fall in the number of young addicts” (cross­party peers group). I believe their approach is centered around the benefit of public health and wellbeing. This coincides with the views of Martin Barnes, the chief executive of the charity DrugScope who said: “the emphasis should be on public health, prevention and education”. Through decriminalising cannabis you cut out the dangerous, underground, dealing often associated with drug use. The cross­party peers group acknowledges this by saying that young people are prone to “experimenting and they are at risk if they can only buy less harmful drugs from the same dealers who are trying to push the most harmful ones”. The benefits of providing safer drugs without the risk of the “most harmful drugs” are clear: a decrease in health issues, money going towards the government instead of organised crime and the carefully monitored regulation of drugs. Illegal dealers are also inclined to
“adulterate their products to increase their profits.” If these drugs were available in chemists, with the labeled health risks, there would be no adulteration of the drug as it would be produced “through legal channels” which would drastically improve the safety of the users. Baroness Meacher also suggested that “young people are going to buy these things, is it not better that they know