Policy in Practice

In 2012 the Government changed the penalties for cannabis growers and now having up to 9 plants will see a more rational approach to coping with the millions of those who do use the drug. I wrote this piece because I have spent a lot of time working with the disengaged, especially those with habits, through my experiences I was able to speak to users, abusers and growers to try and further my understanding of the cannabis and drugs problems in a wider policy context. The last decades Government efforts to reduce cannabis availability has caused more issues than expected and has ironically cost the NHS and Police service more time and more money than they once exerted. Drug seizures have doubled since 2004, mostly due to cannabis, yet this supply reduction has impacted social, economic and underworld activity. While the Police force have increased their focus on closing cannabis farms there are few statistics to show how those efforts work to improve the real problems.  Many ...

As I listen to members of the Labour party being interviewed during their conference I cannot help but hear echoes of party politics and sound-byte rebuffing of their misjudgements. The Liberal Democrat conference was one of substance, or so it seemed from my perspective, Labour however seem to be enjoying the typical sparring match played out by media savvy politicians who thrive on reminding everyone how evil the Tories really are. But what of polcy? So far all I have heard is vague descriptions and emphatic emptiness; 'things are like this, the current policy can't work, this study says it should be this way; we are going to support their findings!' What about your own findings? Even discussions on crime are riddled with confusion, perhaps there were 7million less crimes but this was a proportionate figure in respect to a national trend established in 1995; and certainly doesn't exemplify Labours commitment to tackling serious and organised crime. It also fai...