Top Doctor Supports Drugs Law Review

The former President of the Royal College of Physicians has lent his support to calls for a review on the decriminalisation of drugs.

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore said that laws on the misuse of drugs should be "reconsidered with a view to decriminalising illicit drugs use".

Sir Ian, who worked as a liver specialist, said that problems such as infections from dirty needles and complications stemming from the use of contaminated drugs were common among heroin addicts.

He stressed that many of the problems resulted from the prohibition of drugs, not from the use of the drugs themselves, and argued that a review of the drugs laws could potentially reduce crime and improve health.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Sir Ian said that the present policy of prohibition "is not a success". He said: "It hasn't reduced drug use, it hasn't prevented the availability of drugs, but it has created a whole raft of secondary problems associated with the illegal market, including making drugs more dangerous than they already are and undermining public health and fuelling crime."

However, a spokesperson for the Home Office said that the government did not believe that decriminalisation was not the right approach: "Drugs such as heroin, cocaine and cannabis are extremely harmful and cause misery to communities across the country.

"The government does not believe that decriminalisation is the right approach. Our priorities are clear; we want to reduce drug use, crack down on drug-related crime and disorder and help addicts come off drugs for good."

(KMcA/BMcC)