Thread by @Release_drugs

We will be live-tweeting the #HomeAffairsCommittee meeting today w @niamhrelease @KojoKoram @DrKarenzaMoore @MartinTransform @qmschooloflaw & @HJAcivillibs BELOW ⤵

This session will focus on drug policy:
- where we are in terms of drug policy in the UK
- what has and hasn't been working so far
- what change is needed

1st time that here will be a round table format of discussion rather than a Q&A structure.

1st Q: MDA is +50yrs old, is it still fit for purpose?
@MartinTransform laid the stats on how the UK is one of the countries with highest drug related harms, drug use, and easy access to drugs for who wants them
Also reminded @anyoneschild will be in Parliament 28 June. Be there!

Rudi Fortson QC added that the MDA legal principles from an in-court experience is working well. But there's room 4 improvement.

The MDA has received bad rep, as it was designed to esp. regulate drug use.

The MDA hasn't been applied as flexibly as it should've been applied.

Fortson: Reforms could happen through secondary legislation & small amendments to primary legislation.

MDA could enable for forms of decrim to be implemented with creative amendments & licensing regimes.

.@niamhrelease idea that there will be an equitable application of the law is nonsense. Current crim laws dont deter use - a no punishment model could entirely avoid having individuals enter the criminal justice system.

Decrim + HR investments= positive outcomes.

Fortson - all for personal liberties, but wants 2 focus on intensity of legal controls. All human consumption drugs are subject to legal controls. All regulation has coercion to ensure compliance.

He sees a case for decrim of all drugs, but dsnt agree with open access for drugs

Powell responded saying no-one wants uncontrolled open access. Spoke of new book on reg transformdrugs.org/blog/how-to-re…

Hartnell @hodgejonesallen states the MDA was meant to reduce harm, and it is failing in this. It's inflexible, and has black n white view of involvement in drug market

2nd topic - Black review & Gov 10yr Strategy. Who are the victims who need most support? Has there been correlation between new intervention and health impacts? hat's the single most single intervention to do now?

(Uff. Tough questions. There's no single silver bullet)

.@DrKarenzaMoore cracking down on drug use has translated to cracking on young people + victims of drug trade. Lack of regulation in production & distribution, lack of info on adulterants.

Young ppl are victims of stigma + harm of drugs. Most needed is HR support

.@niamhrelease agrees, young ppl r overly represented in drug harms. Most prob. PWUD medicate for emotional suffering. Continuing to treat them as criminals means they will not ever get support. 54% of DRDs never were in cnct w health services.

(we're biased bt👏👏👏)

@niamhrelease .@KojoKoram criminal justice is final lvl of system of punishment. School exclusions (ONS shows drug poss is 3rd common reason for exclusions); racial discrepancy in stop&searches (60% of which r for drugs).

Drug policing in schools creates serious questions of victimhood

.@MartinTransform "tough consequences" rhetoric reifies idea of "bad ppl taking drugs", undermining public support for alternatives + reducing engagement treatment as they think they'll be punished. This punitive lang must be removed from the Drug Strategy.

Martin continues, what drives drug use are mostly cultural reasons (pressure, pleasure, forbidden fruit effect).

Best solution is OST, which is suppressed in Drug Strategy which pushes 4 abstinence, which doesn't reduce deaths.

Q for Koram - How do you deal w fact that some may use drugs in a fine manner, but others may get addicted from same substance?

Koram - we're not dismissing harms of drugs, we're trying to create space to discuss what led to problematic use, rather than funding systems of crim.

.@DrKarenzaMoore is concerned w poss offences and Strategy's crackdown on recreational users.

This crackdown= attack on young ppl. Having them enter into contact early with criminal justice will have huge harms

Moore talks about "phasic" drug use - many young ppl will simply move away from rec drug use as they age, with life moving on to less drug using environments.

But if they enter the criminal justice system, the consequences of their youth will permanently alter them.

Qs on why drug related deaths are so high in Scotland and NE of England.

@niamhrelease deprivation and poly-drug use, incl. move towards street drugs after legal prescriptions are taken away. Drug treatment funding in past decade was killed by Gov. Synthetic opioids may ⬆ harms

Eastwood - Gov strategy should be

- More drug checking (permanently in cities)
- HAT (diamorphine) + OST expansion

Powell highlighted how ACMD has supported HAT; it reduces street heroin market supply and criminal profits

🔑solutions being presented!!

Powell reminded group of drug consumption rooms.

Fortson beautifully supports DCRs seeing 1sthand how they worked in Canada, Spain & Hamburg. Great way to provide additional social/health services.

There's tons of evidence of their efficacy but see: bmj.com/content/bmj/36…

Hartnell on disrupting supply - in practice, young ppl are trafficked to sell drugs. Unless modern slavery act supports teenagers that are involved in county lines, these harms will be carried by youth. Housing, poverty & mental health must all come together in a solution.

.@simonfell: if legalisation takes place, what's the impact on crime? What levers must be put in place in transition period?

@niamhrelease decrim dropped crime lvls effectively in Portugal & others.

Portugal: transformdrugs.org/blog/drug-decr…
See others here ⬇
talkingdrugs.org/decrim

.@KojoKoram the removal of cannabis convictions has allowed for people to re-enter society in the US and other nations w legal cannabis.

The international conventions on drugs, that led to the creation of the MDA, are no longer supported across the world.

Next issue: the MDA is believed to prevent DCRs from being set up. Fortson said there is no legal law prohibiting them from being set up.

(This definitely needs to get brought up with the Minister, as there is NO reason why they aren't being explored in the country then.)

Next issue: drugs & race

👏@KojoKoram brought up connection on carcerality and its central role in drug prohibition. History of policing communities of colour must be in ANY conversation on racial harms of drug policy.

Plus our work in this area ⬇
release.org.uk/publications/C…

Beyond the critical factors of racial disproportionality in drugs policing (evident in our report above), there's evidence that being constantly stopped by police erodes trust in the state, leading to self-help violence - taking justice into their own hands.

Hartnell @hodgejonesallen evidenced that drugs policing alienates communities. There should be more enforcement in recording police interactions with ppl at street lvl, with consequences when police disproportionately use violence.

Powell backed this - no evidence of Black review addressing race-based harm in drug policing. It does support diversion schemes - but it calls it "tough consequences" (?!) raising issues of violent lang.

Diversion schemes don't reduce lvls of policing, just outcomes for some.

Closing Q: what is the one thing that this committee should look at in the future?

Hartnell @hodgejonesallen - divert away from crim justice system. Entangling young ppl is bad

Fortson - reread Runciman report and see what has & hasnt been implemented. Decrim poss of all drugs.

.@DrKarenzaMoore look at language used - using "tough" is not helpful

@MartinTransform Look at Germany & recommend what a UK model looks like - ⬇corp capture & ⬆public health

@KojoKoram look at 🌍legislation - UK is falling behind in drug policy reform.

.@niamhrelease adding to all points, look at scaling HAT, how to secure supply of meds in UK, and D👏C👏Rs👏 - no need for another royal commission, there's enough evidence.

That's a wrap for today, thanks for staying with us and to all those providing evidence in session 👏

Committee will produce a report later in the year with findings.

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