Drugs Policy

Lord Rea Excerpts

Monday 21st November 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rea (Lab)]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lady Meacher on keeping drugs and the law on the agenda—not only in this House but on the world stage. She has done much to encourage other countries and the World Health Organization to revisit the UN conventions on narcotics, as she has told us. Until the last few years these were regarded as virtually set in concrete in a prohibitionist mode. I speak of her as my noble friend because on this issue, her position is closer to mine than is that of my party.

My credentials for joining this short debate are, first, that for 30 years I practised as a GP in inner London, which has higher than average drug abuse levels, and, secondly, that 18 years ago I was a member of your Lordships’ Science and Technology Committee, which was chaired by Lord Perry—Walter Perry—and looked into the medicinal use of cannabis. Now, that has been superseded by the Barnes report, mentioned by the noble Baroness. Things have certainly moved on internationally since our committee reported, but there has been little fundamental change in the UK, though several other countries have made cannabis—and other drugs—legally more available.

The Select Committee took careful account of the composition of cannabis and its effects, both beneficial and harmful. One important finding was that,

“no-one has ever died as a direct and immediate consequence of recreational or medical use”.

In other words, it is a very safe drug. It can, however, have ill effects, one being that, rarely, it can precipitate psychosis. Our report considered that,

“there is little evidence that cannabis use can precipitate schizophrenia or other mental illness in those not already predisposed to it”.

It is sometimes difficult to say which came first: cannabis use or psychosis. Heavy use, of course, may slow cognitive processes and impair concentration, and therefore driving, and heavy users may suffer academically. But short-term use appears to have no lasting ill effects. Some adverse effects, occasionally lung cancer, are due to the products of combustion in inhaled smoke, which frequently include tobacco.

Since ancient times, preparations containing cannabis have been used therapeutically for a number of symptoms. In particular, we noted how effective it sometimes is in relieving the painful spasms associated with multiple sclerosis, but it is not a cure for MS or any other illness.

To avoid the ill effects of inhaled cannabis a pure extract has been incorporated by GW Pharmaceuticals into an oral aerosol spray, Sativex, which now has a product licence. However, it is so expensive that NICE has disallowed it for prescription. Vaporisers for cannabis are available in the USA. The price is too high, but it is coming down.

The fact that there are some undesirable effects of this drug, and all other drugs, strengthens the case for these products to be decriminalised and made available on prescription or through regulated, licensed outlets. Their effects could then be monitored more closely and the strength and purity of the product be subject to scrutiny before a licence is granted. However, as things stand, and as the noble Baroness said, cannabis will continue to be used illegally for therapeutic as well as recreational use in this country. It is illogical that patients should have to break the law in the UK to gain relief, when in several other countries they do not.

Road Traffic Act 1988 (Alcohol Limits) (Amendment) Bill [HL]

Lord Rea Excerpts

Friday 11th March 2016 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Transport and Home Office (Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon) (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, for bringing the Bill forward and for his subsequent amendments. I am sure he is aware that the Government take the threat of all dangerous drivers, including drink-drivers and drug-drivers, very seriously, and will continue to monitor all the elements that contribute to the number of deaths on our roads. I have previously set out what the Government are doing to reduce all road casualties in England and Wales, but I will re-emphasise the important steps we are taking that will help to tackle drink-driving specifically.

Drink-driving is still responsible for too many deaths and injuries. In order to prevent this, we will continue to take tough action against the small number of drivers who ignore the drink-drive limit. Many drivers killed in drink-drive collisions, or prosecuted for drinking and driving, are significantly over the drink-drive limit. The Government therefore believe that rigorous enforcement and serious penalties for drink-drivers, particularly these dangerous individuals, are a more effective deterrent than changing the drink-drive limit.

As I have previously said, the Deregulation Act 2015 made important changes to the drink-driving laws. First, it removed the so-called statutory option that allowed drivers who were slightly above the breath-alcohol limit to demand a blood or urine test. Secondly, it made it a requirement for high-risk offenders to undertake medical tests before they are allowed to drive again.

I note that we have just removed Clause 2, as the noble Lord proposed, which refers to Section 8(2) of the Road Traffic Act 1988, as it was removed by the Deregulation Act 2015. If the Government were in favour of the Bill, we would have agreed to the removal. However, I want to reiterate that the Government do not support the Bill. We believe that the legislative changes already made are very important steps that will help to reduce drink-drive casualties.

With regard to the lower drink-drive limit, we will, of course, remain interested to see the substantial evidence base from the changes made in Scotland, when it is available. The noble Lord, Lord Brooke, and I have talked about this issue and I am sure he agrees that it is important that the Scottish Government carry out a full evaluation of its impact. It is also important to note that the penalties for drink-driving in England and Wales are more severe than in other countries, and despite the majority of these other countries having lower alcohol limits, they do not have a better record on reducing drink-drive casualties. The Government therefore maintain our position that lowering the limit in itself is not going to change people’s behaviour and would not be the best use of resources to improve safety on our roads at this time.

In thanking the noble Lord for his contribution, I reiterate that this remains a very key and important issue. I assure him that we will continue to support the police in their rigorous enforcement efforts against all dangerous drivers—for example, through the introduction of roadside evidential breath-testing instruments, which are expected next year. I hope the noble Lord is also assured that we continue to enforce strict drug-driving laws with our award-winning THINK! campaigns.

[Lord Rea (Lab)]

The noble Lord mentioned a similar measure that was introduced in Scotland about a year ago, the results of which the Government are observing. The Scottish licensed catering association has said that the introduction of that measure has been “catastrophic” for the industry. In other words, drinking as a whole has gone down—no one has mentioned that effect of the measure—quite apart from any effect on accidents on the roads. When the prohibition on smoking in public places came in, it reduced the prevalence of heart disease. Heart attacks, for instance, came down measurably as a result of that step. Therefore, small measures such as the one we are discussing will gradually reduce the consumption of alcohol, which, when used excessively, is very harmful, as we all know.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I thank the noble Lord for his comments. I agree that changes such as these have an impact. As he rightly pointed out, Scotland has introduced changes. We are talking regularly with our counterparts in the Scottish Government, but it is right that we await a more substantial evidence base for these changes. As I said, we are not contemplating any changes at this time.

Litvinenko Inquiry

Lord Rea Excerpts

Thursday 21st January 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bates]

The report does not go into that level of detail—or certainly not the parts that I have read. That is something that will be examined very carefully because, again, that would ratchet up this issue to a further level of deep concern.

[Lord Rea (Lab)]

I am sure that Marina Litvinenko is extremely pleased that this inquiry was held and that the findings are so definite, but she would be even more pleased if the findings could be tested in law with regard to the two main suspects being accused. Although it seems impossible to get them to come to this country, would there not be a precedent for having a trial in absentia?

[Lord Bates]

I am afraid that I am not qualified to know whether that is an option. I think that it would be immensely difficult. In effect, there has been an inquiry without their contribution. The evidence was considered and it has produced a pretty damning judgment. As to what the legal options are, I hope that the Director of Public Prosecutions might be able to come forward with something in response to the Home Secretary’s letter.

Psychoactive Substances Bill [HL]

Lord Rea Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Meacher]

I should like to make one simple point, which is that I agree absolutely with the noble Lord that what we need are clinical trials on medicinal cannabis. The problem is that researchers do not want to go into this area because the substance is illegal. Getting cannabis in is a tremendous problem because it takes a long time to get the licences. I do not know, but there are problems which the noble Lord may know more about than I. However, if adults and children in particular who are in severe pain and distress could be prescribed medicinal cannabis on a named-patient basis, that would be a good option. But certainly we need to get on with a lot of work on clinical trials.

[Lord Rea (Lab)]

My Lords, like the noble Lord, Lord Walton, who spoke last week during the supplementaries on the Question for Oral Answer tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, on this topic, I served on the Select Committee which looked into the medicinal use of cannabis. One of the central recommendations was exactly what the noble Lord, Lord Ribeiro, has suggested. We need controlled trials. The noble Baroness has just backed up that suggestion as well. But it is very difficult to get these trials going. As she has said, because cannabis is an illegal substance, it is difficult to get people to agree to do the work. One or two trials have been carried out which resulted in the production of Sativex, but only one firm is producing it. As the noble Baroness said, it is terribly expensive and can be prescribed only on a named basis; it is very difficult for doctors to prescribe it to patients who have been shown to benefit from cannabis by getting it illegally.

One of the problems with getting cannabis illegally is that you do not know the ratio of the different cannabinoids in the illegal drug. It has been shown—this was told to us in our committee—that there is a huge range of effects from different cannabinoids. The one that gives the psychoactive effect, tetrahydrocannabinol— THC—is something that people who take cannabis for medicinal purposes do not like. But it is very difficult to find an illegal version of cannabis that contains a good ratio with more cannabidiol—CBD—which is the calming one that reduces spasms. Sometimes people have thought that it does not stimulate psychotic results but prevents them; it is an antipsychotic drug.

So there are real reasons why it should be made legal for researchers to concentrate on doing proper, controlled clinical trials to work out what cannabis can do, and what components or mixtures of cannabis components are most effective. This is crying out to be done, but as things are, it is very difficult to get scientists to agree to do it because of the illegality of the substance.

[Lord Blencathra]

My Lords, I have no idea whether cannabis is relevant and effective in dealing with nausea or spasms caused by motor neurone disease or other diseases, but I have a wee bit of experience of multiple sclerosis, and I say to the House that I do not want to be used as an excuse to legalise cannabis, because it is not necessary for treating the spasms that come from multiple sclerosis; there is already a fairly large range of drugs on the market that deal with that.

The spasms are difficult to describe and usually happen at night. The main muscles of the body—the torso, the legs and the chest—just spasm, and it is difficult to get a bit of sleep when that happens. In my case, when it started getting bad, my consultant said, “In that case, we must give you a drug that will deal with the spasms”. At the top of the list is baclofen, which is dirt cheap and highly effective. The maximum prescribed dose is 50 milligrams. I take 10 milligrams in the morning and 20 milligrams at night and have had no more body spasms because of it.

Okay, I cannot speak for all multiple sclerosis sufferers. When I was a constituency Member of Parliament, I had constituents come to me who said that they wanted cannabis legalised so that they could deal with their MS. I said that there were clinical trials under way that resulted in the drug Sativex, but they were not so keen to take a pill; they wanted to smoke a joint because it made them feel better in many other ways. Well, it could, but I do not want people who wish to smoke cannabis to get high to use the excuse that it is essential for multiple sclerosis sufferers in order to remove their pain and spasms.

If baclofen does not work—it seems to work for about 95% of people—doctors usually try tizanidine: I will give the Minister the spellings later. Following that, going down the list, is gabapentin. It is not usually prescribed because the other two drugs are usually much more effective. At the bottom of the list is Sativex, which is the cannabis derivative. The problem here, as has been stated already, is that NICE reviewed it and concluded that it was not cost effective. Unfortunately, that is absolutely right, because it costs 10 times as much as baclofen, which I have in my pocket at this precise moment.

I therefore think that the solution is: patients should be prescribed baclofen. If that does not work, they can go on to tizanidine, and if that does not work they can try the next legal drug, gabapentin. If those three do not work, then people can be prescribed Sativex. I suggest that my noble friend the Minister should say to the Department of Health and NICE that in those priority corridors it should be permissible to use it throughout the whole of the United Kingdom. Wales overruled NICE and has allowed Sativex to be prescribed. It is not prescribed, except by private prescription, in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. I think that that is wrong. It should be allowed to be used by doctors but not as the first port of call.

There is merit in rejecting the amendment as far as multiple sclerosis is concerned. It may be beneficial for other illnesses when people suffer spasms but it is not necessary to deal with the problems that occur with multiple sclerosis. I wish to put my liberal credentials—or near liberal credentials—on the table. A part of me takes the view that if people want to smoke a cannabis joint and get high, okay, let them but do not expect the taxpayer to pick up the bill for the cancers and other illnesses they may get later. Similarly, a part of me thinks that if people want to eat themselves through gluttony into obesity and sit on their backsides, taking no exercise, let them, provided the NHS does not have to pay for that.

As the taxpayer has to pay for these things and for the dangers which smoking cannabis can cause, the taxpayer and the Government must be in a position to say, “No, I’m sorry. You’re not allowed to smoke that because there are alternatives that can deal with the alleged problem”.

Psychoactive Substances Bill [HL]

Lord Rea Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rea (Lab)]

My Lords, I have enjoyed listening to the contributions of noble Lords so far and I agree with much of what has been said, so I hope that your Lordships will excuse me if I repeat some of the words that have been spoken already.

I can understand why the Government feel the need to bring forward legislation on this subject: it is to reflect the public’s belief that something must be done about the increase in the availability and use of these substances. However, as the noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, has just said, consultation before the Bill was published was noticeably scarce. Even the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs was not approached until after the Bill had been drawn up, although it is actually a legal requirement set out in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 that the ACMD must be consulted before alterations to the Act or new legislation is brought in. Instead, a specially appointed expert panel was set up by the Home Office. I can only suggest that this was done because the opinion of the ACMD is often not exactly welcomed by the Home Office. The result is a Bill which may, I think, have unintended and rather damaging consequences. I suggest that it is better to have no Bill rather than one which may make things worse.

In December last year, while debating the long-named Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Act, of which he did not have a very high opinion, the noble Lord, Lord Hurd of Westwell—who is in the Chamber, and who was one of the wisest Home Secretaries of recent times—said that if a Bill is not necessary, it is necessary not to have the Bill. I would not go quite as far as that in this case, but we need a lot more time to think about it. Considerable amendment and thought could improve the Bill so that it is useful.

I shall mention just a few areas where I think the Bill is mistaken. I think most noble Lords would agree that to prohibit the use of a psychoactive substance seldom stops its use—in fact, the reverse may be the case. We saw that after the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 was passed and heroin use increased quite dramatically, which was the case until very recently when it started to decrease. As we know, that reduction has coincided with an increase in the use of these psychoactive substances. That may be a coincidence, or there might be a closer relationship between the two. As my noble friend Lord Patel mentioned, there is also the recent Irish experience of blanket legislation on psychoactive substances and the closure of head shops. However, according to one report that I have seen, the use of psychoactive substances there has apparently increased from 16% to 22%. There are many similar examples.

A serious consequence of prohibition, as has been mentioned, is that supply routes and outlets will go underground and even less will be known about the nature of the substances used. Some of these substances are extraordinarily dangerous, as has also been said. Although the Bill does not make possession in itself an offence, importation will be. Many users get their supplies through the internet—the dark net, as my noble friend Lord Patel said—and as these come mostly from abroad, the users will also become importers and therefore have broken the law.

Another important consequence of the Bill, as several noble Lords have pointed out, is that research would be more difficult. That is particularly important because identifying and testing these substances is crucial to deciding how to control them. Research will also be more difficult because the users of substances that should be examined will now be reluctant to come forward. There will also be much legal—and probably pretty well-paid—argument in the courts about the definition of a psychoactive substance as laid down in the Bill.

In Committee I will back amendments that seek to postpone enactment of the Bill until much more work has been done to assess its impact. The assessment so far has not been adequate. I shall also move or back the many other amendments that will seek to improve the Bill.

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2014

Lord Rea Excerpts

Monday 12th May 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rea (Lab)]

My Lords, of course, in focusing on a topic such as this, almost everything that could be said has been. My noble friend already included four reasons in her amendment for not going ahead with the reclassification of khat. All four reasons were covered fairly fully by other speakers. There are a number of other cogent reasons why the Government should not go ahead with this proposal. Of course, a lot of them have been spoken to by other speakers as well.

Some of those reasons were stated very clearly in the report of the ACMD—which the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, described fully. That was sent to the Home Secretary in January last year and, after that, the Home Affairs Committee reported on this in November. I am not aware that the effects of khat have changed much since those reports were published. The ACMD says that khat has no causal link to adverse medical effects other than a small number of reports of an association between khat use and significant liver toxicity, which were not of sufficient importance to recommend controlling the substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act. The noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, mentioned that it was an association, not a proven causal link. However, the report from the ACMD also had—as the noble Baroness said—a number of very useful recommendations to health and social care boards regarding khat that central and local government would do well to study and implement.

The main argument put forward by the Home Office for banning khat is that otherwise the UK might become a hub for its distribution—as mentioned by both the preceding speakers. However, if that were likely to happen it would already be occurring, whereas in fact the use of khat in this country—and I assume the importation of khat to this country, too—is falling. I repeat the question of the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee: can the Minister give us any figures about the use and importation of khat in this country? Is there any evidence of the smuggling of khat out of this country to Europe? As the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, said, that is very difficult because it must be done within two or three days or khat is more or less unsalable.

The most important reason for not going ahead with this order is—as the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, said—the unintended consequences that will follow. Just to start with, the use of khat will probably not come down any faster than it already is. Banning substances that are widely used has little effect on the level of use. This is a fact that Governments—not only this one—are rather reluctant to accept. Another serious consequence would be—as the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, said—to criminalise a section of an already poor and marginalised community: the Somalis in Britain and, to a lesser extent, some Kenyan immigrants and Yemenis. Perhaps the most important consequence might be the substitution of khat by more powerful alternatives, as already mentioned, including alcohol and other stimulants such as crack cocaine and forms of speed—amphetamines—or mephedrone. I join with other noble Lords and Baronesses in pleading with the Minister to reconsider the proposal to go ahead with this order for the very good reasons that the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, put so cogently.

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

My Lords, I welcome this further opportunity to set out the Government’s approach, which allows me to focus, in particular, on the activities to support the successful implementation of the ban on khat. That has lain at the heart of concerns raised by noble Lords, which I take seriously. I am reassured that the points raised in today’s debate are nearly all matters that were taken into account in the early stages of our decision-making when we considered our response to the issues associated with this drug.

The noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, and the noble Lord, Lord Rea, asked what new figures we had on this drug. The new evidence, including reports from law enforcement agencies, emerged after the ACMD published its report and the Dutch banned khat in January 2013. It pointed to an increase in the volume of khat in transit via the UK to European countries where it is banned. The latest update for the first three months of this year shows that 17 seizures of khat—with a combined net weight of over 11.5 tonnes—originating in the UK were made in France en route to other countries where it is banned, including Denmark, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. This is evidence that this country is becoming a substantial hub for this material.

Before I address the particular concerns of the noble Baroness, Lady Smith—

Alcohol: Minimum Pricing

Lord Rea Excerpts

Wednesday 10th July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

I certainly agree with my noble friend that the price of alcohol is not the only issue at stake. Lots of local communities are taking positive action in this area. I have been to see the night-time economy in the centre of Nottingham. Street ambassadors, taxi marshals and street pastors have helped to make that area of Nottingham safe at night, which has done a lot to improve the economy of the area. There is a big role for community: it is not just a matter of the price of alcohol.

[Lord Rea]

My Lords, further to the question asked by the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, about the Canadian experience, does the Minister agree that it has reduced sales and off-sales at supermarkets and the like—the very places to which binge drinkers go to “tank up” before a night out?

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

The information that the noble Baroness gave was helpful and I am grateful for it.

Crime and Courts Bill [HL]

Lord Rea Excerpts

Wednesday 4th July 2012 Lords Chamber

I can assure the noble Baroness that we will continue to work with the chief inspector to identify any appropriate areas for improvement in the handling of visa applications and build on improvements. There have been considerable improvements over the years that have already resulted from his inspections. In the light of the points that I have made to my noble kinsman and to the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, I hope that they will not press their amendments and will support, in due course, the passage of Clause 24.

[Lord Rea]

Before the Minister sits down, will he answer a simple question? When an appeal is refused under the new rules, he says that it will be open to the applicant to make a new application, benefiting perhaps from the reasons given for the asylum refusal. But that will surely add enormously to the load on the border control officers who are controlling applications for visas in the first place. Will that not give them a huge overload? Anyway, are there not rules that specify the length of time after the first application is refused before a second one can be made? What sort of period are we looking at? Is it six months, a year or two years? Is there a period at all?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, we are finding that, with a large number of appeals, the point that they are appealing on is in effect new evidence that they did not put in their original application. We suggest that it is cheaper to make a new application than to appeal. It does not clog up the appeal system if they make a new application, bringing in that new evidence. Therefore, the appropriate process is to use the new application route rather than clog up the appeals system. That is why I was emphasising that, despite the original intentions of the system brought in by the Government of whom the noble Lord is such a distinguished supporter, it has clogged up the system in a manner that we do not think is appropriate. The new application would be a far simpler, cheaper and better way of dealing with these matters.

[Lord Rea]

Is there not a long period before such a new application can be made? Can be done immediately or does there have to be a period of months?

[Lord Henley]

A new application can be made immediately. That would be far quicker for the applicant than waiting for possibly eight months for the appeal to be dealt with. A new application can be dealt with within 15 days. That is a better deal for all involved, particularly if they are coming over for a family event such as a wedding. In eight months, the whole thing might be over: it would depend on how much advance notice they had for the wedding.

Drug Use and Possession: Royal Commission

Lord Rea Excerpts

Wednesday 9th March 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rea]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Norton, has chosen a relevant and important topic. We should thank him for securing this short debate. He and all other noble Lords who have spoken are right to point out that the current legal framework controlling drug abuse has been remarkably ineffective and very expensive. Recently, there has been a slight reduction in drug use by young people, but there has been a parallel increase in binge-drinking, with an alarming increase in death from liver disease.

Fashions change in the popularity of mood-altering substances but it has always been a characteristic of human societies to use one or other of them for enjoyment or relaxation. Prohibition merely drives trade in these substances underground and into the hands of criminals. The main problem with current drug legislation has been what was described recently by Antonio Costa, former chief executive of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, as a raft of “unintended negative consequences”. These include a huge criminal market, policy displacement from healthcare to enforcement and geographical displacement—the “balloon effect” of enforcement activity in one area displacing the problem to another. We have a serious drug problem in the UK, but its extent stretches far wider. Illicit drug profits are fuelling crime, corruption and conflict across the globe. The recent spate of violence in Mexico is but one example.

I have been interested in the problem of drug abuse since my days in an inner-city general practice. The social and physical problems caused by excessive consumption of alcohol—a legal substance—were greater than those caused by drugs that are illegal. My strong impression was, as the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, has pointed out, that the health problems stemmed more from the fact that the street drugs that were used were adulterated rather than from the effect of the drugs themselves. The four deaths that occurred among my patients were all due to overdose from batches of street drugs that were unexpectedly potent. At the other end of the scale, I had several heroin-dependent patients who received pure pharmaceutical heroin from one of the few doctors still permitted to prescribe it. They were able to carry on responsible jobs and maintain normal households. They were eventually able to end their drug use while receiving careful counselling and medical supervision, but only when they felt ready to do so—a similar approach to that used in the most successful treatment units today.

The purpose of these remarks is to emphasise that most of the substances now listed in Schedule 2 to the 1971 Act, if used in moderate amounts in pure form, while not totally harmless are no more harmful than alcohol and tobacco. Tobacco actually raises mortality even when smoked as intended. The relative harm caused by different agents has of course been the subject of recent controversy and a bad-tempered spat between the Home Secretary and Professor David Nutt, the former chairman of the ACMD, resulting in his dismissal. He made the mistake of using a light touch in comparing the dangers of ecstasy with those of horse riding, for which he coined the term “equasy”.

To conclude, is a royal commission the right body to review our health policy? It would certainly bring clarity to a controversial area, but the Government would not necessarily be bound to follow its recommendations, resulting in the issue being in effect kicked into touch. I recommend the use, as the noble Lord mentioned, of impact assessments, as recommended by the committee of the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, the UK Drug Policy Commission. The advantage of this method is not only that the Government are more likely to follow and take seriously the recommendations, being part of the process, but that it has flexibility, enabling it to be applied internationally as well as nationally.