Portfolio Justice
Recent investigations into the number of substances being sold online reveal that 400 others are on the market, which do not fall under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Another substance, sold under the name
Ivory Wave, last month had officials at NHS Lothian issuing a warning after they said 20 people required hospital attention after taking it. Te drug is sold as bath salts and doctors say it can have wide-ranging side effects. Arthur added: “Crew highlighted the
fact six years ago that the development and production of certain research chemicals were likely to lead to an increase in the use of such substances as they were now rivalling illegal drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy in potency and also through increased production and marketing through the internet. “Tis was largely because the quality of
illegal substances were perceived as being inferior to the new substances that were emerging.” Te concern with reactionary banning of
products is that it leads to people using more powerful chemicals. Arthur added: “It happened with magic
mushrooms. Tey were being sold fresh in vacuum packs and were controlled and people knew what they were getting – there was no problems in the UK with magic mushrooms being sold. Except the law enforcement saw it as a loophole in the law that people were exploiting and therefore they shut it down. Tere was a lot of young people, people we work with, went from using a relatively safe product to LSD which is of course a lot more toxic.” Te drugs market, both legal and illegal, seems to change regularly. What does not appear to have altered throughout the years, however, is a political mindset that the only way to react to drugs is with condemnation. An example of where honest and open debate
was curtailed was in the absurd situation at the end of last year when Professor David Nutt was sacked as the UK Government’s chief drugs adviser after claiming ecstasy and LSD were less dangerous than alcohol. Professor Nutt incurred the wrath of the Government when he refused to follow the party line and claimed in a paper that alcohol and tobacco were more harmful than many illegal drugs. Tere was more controversy just last month when the outgoing president of the Royal College of Physicians, Sir Ian Gilmore, said decriminalising drug use could drastically reduce crime and improve health. He said the laws on misuse of drugs should be reviewed and supply should be regulated. Dr Fiona Measham, a senior lecturer in
criminology at Lancaster University, said it would take a radical shift in policy for
46 Holyrood 20 September 2010
a government not to make chemicals like mephedrone illegal. She said: “If the Government hoped to
stop people taking mephedrone by making it illegal then you could say, largely, it has worked. But has it stopped people taking other drugs? Te answer is no. “It has in one way created an illegal market
for methedrone where there is now a higher price and lower purity. But did the government have an alternative? I think it would be very difficult for a British government in this climate not to succumb to the pressures from the public and the press to criminalise this. Tat is what we do in the UK – if a drug is a problem we make it illegal without thinking whether or not that will work.” Arthur added: “When you ask people why
they use substances, which is the question we would ask, the majority of people would say they use them for fun and say they get a lot of pleasure out of them and it helps them to socialise. “Many politicians find it difficult to deal with
the issue of drugs because they get pressure from the media and from constituents to do something and if they don’t it may look like they are condoning them. “We would encourage a wider debate. Our
policy at Crew is strictly to not condemn or condone substance use. I think what people need to realise is substance misuse is here to stay and it’s not going to go away. Tere needs to be a fundamental understanding that people will use substances.” Tere is no greater example than in Scotland
of where drug addiction can cause suffering and blight communities. Figures released last month showed that the number of drug- related deaths in Scotland in 2009 was 545 – the second highest on record. While some nations claim to be reaping
the benefits of decriminalisation, Scotland and the UK are a long way off even considering such a step. Firstly, there must surely be a seismic shift in attitude to create an environment where drug use can at least be talked about openly without fear of a reactionary backlash. Given the very nature of mephedrone and
its similarities to more serious drugs, it is possible a more sophisticated study of it could have helped form some kind of solution to more pressing drugs problems – but sadly, it appears to have been an opportunity squandered. When the next legal high comes to public
attention, instead of greeting it with mass hysteria and panic legislation, perhaps a detailed analysis of where, when and, most importantly, why people use it could be more effective in shaping the wider drugs debate so desperately needed.
IN BRIEF
Crackdown on ‘drinking dens’ Adults who buy alcohol for under-age drinkers are to be targeted in a crackdown announced by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.
He said the measure aims to help police tackle “drinking dens” where groups of youngsters are supplied alcohol. Speaking at the Alcohol Focus Scotland conference in Aviemore, MacAskill said he would introduce an amendment to the Alcohol Bill, making it an offence for adults to supply alcohol to youths in public places.
Children harmed by ‘cruel’ system More than half the children caught up in Britain’s asylum system have suffered permanent psychological harm, a report has claimed. The paper, State Sponsored Cruelty, says many of the children have witnessed violence in detention centres and have been left disturbed after dawn raids. Of the 141 families and children interviewed in the study by charity Medical Justice, 74 children were reported to have been psychologically harmed.
Prison bosses target mobile phones Mobile phone blocking technology could be introduced at Scotland’s prisons. Tests are being carried out to ensure the technology used does not affect signals outside jails in urban areas, but similar devices have already been used in New Zealand and are expected to be introduced in the UK soon. Signals are blocked by radio waves sent out along the same frequencies that handsets use. The Scottish Prison Service is looking to tighten security as more than 1,000 mobiles are confiscated in prisons each year.
Legalise cannabis, scientist urges A drugs expert has called for cannabis to be legalised and licences made available to people who want to smoke it. Professor Roger Pertwee, of Aberdeen University, who pioneered research into the effects of cannabis in the 1960s and 1970s, argues that only people under the age of 21 and those suffering from mental illness or at risk of psychosis should be prevented from buying the drug. He called for a greater debate on the recreational use of cannabis and said that, in principle, he was in favour of legalisation if the right framework could be found.
Study of police line-ups Eye-witness identifications are to be studied for the first time in an attempt to determine if people avoid pointing the finger at someone they like in a line-up. Experts at the University of Portsmouth are studying eye- witness memory and “liking bias” in a project funded by a £100,000 Economic and Social Research Council grant. Psychologist Dr Hartmut Blank, who is taking part in the project, said: “The feeling of liking can definitely influence judgment. The liking bias is a subtle effect, though – otherwise the justice system would have long been aware of it.”
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