Ministers rule out more liberal drug laws

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) said there was an “opportunity to be more creative” in dealing with those accused of possessing drugs, sending them on awareness courses rather than charging them with criminal offences.

However the Home Office said drugs were illegal because they were harmful, adding: “We have no intention of liberalising our drugs laws.”

In its response to a Sentencing Council consultation on drug crimes, the ACMD said the courses “may be more effective in reducing repeat offending and reducing costs to the criminal justice system”.

“There is an opportunity to be more creative in dealing with those who have committed an offence by possession of drugs,” the council said.

“For people found to be in possession of drugs (any) for personal use (and involved in no other criminal offences), they should not be processed through the criminal justice system but instead be diverted into drug education/awareness courses.”

The courses “would be the equivalent of the apparently successful ‘speed awareness’ courses to which drivers can be referred as a diversion”, the council added.

It also suggested that those accused of possessing drugs could also face “more creative civil punishments”, such as the loss of a driving licence or passport.

The call comes after York-born actress Dame Judi Dench and business tycoon Sir Richard Branson urged the Government to consider decriminalising drugs in June, saying its current policy was a failure.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy, whose members include former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, warned that major policy reforms were needed to help reduce the prison population and stop wasting millions of pounds.

However the Home Office said: “We have no intention of liberalising our drugs laws. Drugs are illegal because they are harmful – they destroy lives and cause untold misery to families and communities. Those caught in the cycle of dependency must be supported to live drug free lives, but giving people a green light to possess drugs through decriminalisation is clearly not the answer.”