Health bodies call for drugs to be decriminalised

UK should adopt the Portuguese system under which people caught using drugs were offered treatment and support rather than being punished
BBC News (UK)
Thursday, June 16, 2016

Two leading public health organisations have called for the possession and personal use of all illegal drugs to be decriminalised in the UK. The Royal Society for Public Health and the Faculty of Public Health said the government's approach to drugs policy had failed. There should be a greater focus on treatment and education, they added. The report, Taking A New Line On Drugs, said criminal sanctions failed to deter illegal drug use, undermined people's life chances and could act as a barrier to addicts coming forward for help. (See also: Breaking Good - Times editorial | Leading public health bodies call for decriminalisation of drugs)