Professional northerner and ex-Home Office minister Bob Ainsworth is the latest ex-person-in-position-of-responsibility to come out and state the bleeding obvious - all drugs should be de-criminalised. Of course when he was at the Home Office, the drugs laws were a good thing, or at least he believed they were a good thing. Otherwise he would have said so, right? Right?
Anyway, better late than never I suppose. It adds a little weight to the very necessary movement to de-criminalise drugs. Actually, that is a nicety. My thing is for full legalisation, but baby steps, Clarice, baby steps....
Since Ainsworth has brought the question into the public domain once again I note that ex-Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez is also calling for the debate to be re-opened. Gonzalez's specific concern appears to be the violence associated with the illegal drugs trade, particularly in Mexico. He points out that the ultra-violence that prevailed during prohibition-era Amercia ended not with Capone being put behind bars, but when prohibition finally ended. 'Nuff said.
Did I say ten to twenty years? Make that five to fifteen.
