A Yougov survey done in conjunction with the Telegraph (not known for its liberal biases) was reported yesterday. It seems that not only do the UK Government's own Science and Technology Committee think the drug laws are ridiculous, but so do we, the population whose view's our politicians supposedly represent.

Despite a near constant barrage of what in some cases could be termed propaganda about the evils of illegal drugs from some angles, it seems us citizens don't really think the War On Some Drugs is the policy we should be following.

The full study is not publicly available yet to the Poorhouse's knowledge, but the media has reported enough of its statistics to make the outcome fairly clear.

To quote a few results that show something of a progressive view:

• Only a 38% of people think that possessing or selling soft drugs should remain a criminal offence.
• Far more people think that alcohol and tobacco cause the greatest amount of harm to the largest number of people than think the same of illegal drugs.
• 89 per cent of people say the aim of drug policy should therefore be to reduce the amount of harm they cause rather than to try to eradicate them.
• 64 per cent, indicated that they thought [some] people could use soft drugs [including cannabis] relatively harmlessly
• Only 30 per cent said "[people who used drugs but committed no other crime] should be treated as criminals and brought before the courts".

There was also much agreement that alcohol and tobacco were more damaging to society than any illegal drug at present, with 78% of respondents opining that currently "alcohol causes most harm to the largest number of people and their families". A large majority felt that "alcohol and tobacco should be classified, along with illegal drugs, according to how much harm they are thought to cause individuals and society".

Whilst the above is encouraging and seems to show the population of the UK is way ahead of the Government in common sense about drug policy, there is still some way to go for those inclined to full legalisation (as opposed to decriminalisation or minor penalties a la speeding fines). Only 15% of people support full-on legalisation of soft drugs selling and owning at this stage.

The Poorhouse regards this as symptomatic of a lack of education about the implications of legalisation. The survey, quite fairly, simply polled people's opinion on yes/no type questions. It did not offer insight into potential benefits from, or definition of, each policy framework but rather left it to the respondent to have their own thoughts on each framework. If the benefits of regulated legalisation over decriminalisation - for example non-hypocritical education regarding safer use, quality controls over the produced drug, moving the trade into the hands of regulated providers from black market criminals to mention a few - were fully realised by the poll takers, then there would be very little reason to not pick legalisation out of the two choices. After all, around 90% of people believe in a harm reduction goal for drug policy, and legalisation is the obvious and only way to minimise the harm caused to the user and society by drug use.

Of course, those whose moral code against the use of currently-illegal drugs is so strong they see fit to deprive other people of their liberty because of it may still be unconvinced, along of course with those - if any exist at this point in time - who see the Government's current prohibition based legislation as doing an effective job at eliminating all drug use. Presumably the latter category would not include the around 92-95% of the poll's respondees who felt that one way or another that, despite 35 years of the constant prohibition of certain drugs under the Misuse Of Drugs Act, the UK still has a serious drugs problem at present.

Sources:
Attitudes soften towards cannabis but harden against heroin and crack
Public relaxed on the use of cannabis
Illegal drugs 'are a fact of life' in the UK