Brighton (UK) may adopt liberal drugs law

[marmar]

from the Guardian UK:



Over the past 20 years or so, Brighton has gained an enviable reputation for being cool. Its thriving centre plays host to a young population and the town is one of the most gay-friendly in Europe.

But Brighton also has a drugs problem: there was an average of almost one drug-related death every week – 50 in total – in 2009, and last year around 35 deaths were attributed to drugs. Brighton is the drug death capital of the UK, with the highest mortality rate from drugs per capita.

The situation is not expected to improve soon. "There was a bad crop in Afghanistan last year, which meant the heroin being taken recently was of very bad quality. A lot of the time it will have been dust", said Mike Pattinson, the director of operations for CRI, a charity rehabilitating drug users in the city. "But we hear this year's crop is a bumper one, which means the quality will be much higher and people will overdose. They won't cope with the strength of what they are taking."

Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion, has called for a new approach, having identified an unlikely ally. She wants to exploit the localism agenda of communities secretary Eric Pickles, the no-nonsense cabinet bruiser from Bradford, to decriminalise drug use in the city. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jun/26/drug-death-capital-brighton-treatment-punishment