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Drug Classification

That is an interesting intervention, and I am afraid that I shall become epidemiological again. I am grateful to the Minister for engaging, but an increased number of people coming forward for treatment might reflect an increased number of users, so that might not be a sign of winning the war. I think he would accept that, and I am not criticising him. Raw numbers do not necessarily provide the answer. I am not sure whether he is saying that an increased proportion is coming through the health care sector rather than the enforcement sector, which might indicate that more resources are going into the health care side and that the enforcement approach is failing relatively speaking, or it could mean that people are less deterred by fear of being criminalised and are coming forward. It is not clear what the figures mean. However, it is clear—this should at least be tried—that if hard-drug-users were told that they could be treated with replacement therapy before reduction therapy and without being sent to prison or being charged, and we went after the dealers rather than the users, there would be a huge incentive for people not to resort to prostitution and acquisitive crime, because they could get their fix from a doctor, even if they did not yet want to come off drugs. I accept that that needs resources, but the scale of acquisitive crime in terms of shoplifting is remarkable. I am conscious of the fact that we are discussing drug classification rather than general enforcement issues, but I wanted briefly to set out some of the key issues. It would be good for enforcement if ecstasy were reclassified from class A to class B, separating it from the most dangerous drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine. At the very least, we would want to see the evidence, otherwise it would be wrong of us to criticise the Government for not listening to the evidence. If the ACMD considered it and argued that ecstasy should remain as class A on a basis that we supported, rather than a basis framed by the Government’s approach, we would reconsider the issue. Let us be clear about that. It is clear that if people have to go to class A drug dealers to get hold of ecstasy, which young people use on such a widespread scale, the dealers might want to sell them stuff that was even more addictive, and which produced even higher returns for them. That must be understood. We strongly support the Government’s position on cannabis as a class C drug. In fact, as the Minister knows, we would go further. The Conservative party feel strongly about the issue, but I say to the hon. and learned Member for Harborough (Mr. Garnier) that we the Liberal Democrats recognise that it is a dangerous drug, and that I as a doctor realise that it is bad for people. I have never taken it, because I do not see why I should put my health at risk through those means. The question is not about cannabis being harmful, however, because if we were rational about that issue, measures on cigarettes and alcohol would be enforced to a greater extent. I recognise the scientific expertise of the hon. Member for Bolton, South-East, but the question is not about how strong cannabis is or about what evidence there is about its contribution to psychosis. The whole issue plays on the need to educate, not to enforce, given the number of people who are at risk. I do not understand why politicians want to get into that posturing—that Dutch auction. I remember when, some time ago, the Conservative party, at the behest of the right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe), wanted to take a very tough line, which was derailed by the fact that many of the shadow Cabinet then admitted that they had been cannabis users. That fact is not relevant, however; the policy was wrong. The fact that they had taken it shows that the policy was wrong, but they should have dropped the policy not because of that fact, but because it was wrong.