Adam Smith Institute

My position on drugs should be fairly apparent to our more regular readers. A quick reminder: they should be legalized. But the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs Council is seeking to shuffle the goalposts slightly by reclassifying ecstasy from a Class A drug to A Class B drug. This is predominately based on a comparison of the amount of harm that a drug has on a person, heroin and cocaine being the most harmful.

It is time that we had an adult debate on the issue, rather than engage this tireless practice of moving drugs back-and-forth within the classes of illegality.

Due to ecstasy's close relation to 'amphetamine' it was already banned in the UK before its usage really took off in the 1980s. But despite it being a banned, today more than 250,000 people take it every month in the UK alone. And almost 5 percent of 10-25 year olds have tried it. Despite this large number of users only 97 people have died whilst under the influence of the drug. [And most of these deaths though could probably have been avoided had the user been properly informed – see Drugscope for more information]

The debate needs to turn away from the ossifying reclassification and pointless arguing amongst politicians. Whether it is an A or a B Class drug is irrelevant. If it were legal, regular users would be fully aware of their actions and those that turned to it would have the information readily available so as to help them make an informed choice. Ultimately, the only way we can win the drug war is by ending it.

P.S. For an excellent insight into herion usage, see Martin Samuel in The Times.

As Sir Ian Blair’s career as Metropolitan Police Commissioner slowly limped to an end with his resignation, serious questions have been raised about our policing system. Although Sir Ian clearly had his own failings, there are other forces at play causing problems within the county’s policing.

Party politics are interfering with the effectiveness of the police. Sir Ian was seen as a New Labour man. So it comes as little surprise that when Boris Johnson became Mayor of London, with tackling crime high up on his agenda, he made Blair’s position uncomfortable. Perhaps he was right to do so.

But the safety of citizens on the streets should be of a greater importance to politicians than point scoring. Rather than concentrating on tackling crime at a street level, political interference causes the leaders of our police forces to focus on meeting targets and handling the media. Tellingly, the Met Police website displays a list of crimes which have fallen over the past year, makes no mention of the knife, gang or cyber crimes which people are increasingly worried about.

The police are not helped in their mission to make our streets safer by the poor allocation of government resources. Our prisons are over crowded, meaning that many convicted criminals are given suspended or shortened sentences, allowing them free reign to re-offend and failing to deter others.

The crypto-fascist scheme to introduce ID Cards is being slowly but surely forced down our throat. Foreign nationals will soon be forced to adopt these wicked devices of control. Next it will be you. Given the stark gravity of the situation, it is worth considering whether or not the scheme will in fact be introduced, and if so, what the reaction of people will be.

It has certainly been a while since the British people have defended for their civil liberties. In the mean time the British have become known for their obsequious, deferential and apathetic behaviour towards those in power. Will the introduction of ID Cards reignite their thirst for freedom?

Well, hopefully it won’t have to. We do have some sense in the House of Commons. Both shadow home secretaries are against the plan. From the Conservatives, Dominic Greave has made it clear that "ID cards are an expensive white elephant that risk making us less - not more safe”. Going on to say: “it is high time the Government scrapped this ill-fated project.” Chris Huhne of the Liberal Democrats has said that, "The Government has gone wobbly-kneed about rolling this out to anyone with a vote. This is the thin end of the wedge. It does not matter how fancy the design of ID cards is, they remain a grotesque intrusion on the liberty of the British people”.

However, if by some perverse miracle Labour manages to win the next election, or – politicians being politicians – the Conservatives change their position on ID Cards, the British people will be have to decide whether or not to burn them (the ID Cards that is) on the streets. The fact that all major newspapers – from the Telegraph to the Guardian and everything in between – are against them, suggests there are strong feelings across the political spectrum. Success will depend upon the organization of dissent by activists such as NO2ID. Provided action is peaceful, it may be the only solution. Imagine, Parliament Square ablaze with ID Cards. Perhaps the celebrations could coincide with November 5th.