Tag Archives: Drug Policy

For four years I worked in His Majesty’s Prison Service. Most of my time was spent with two groups: vulnerable prisoners, often those convicted of sexual offences who couldn’t safely be located on normal wings, and men struggling with addiction. What I learned there shaped my view on drugs more than any political argument ever could.

The truth is uncomfortable. If you are born with a tough set of circumstances, poverty, unstable housing, parents battling substance misuse, you are statistically far more likely to face those same issues yourself. The data backs this up. Around 46% of people in prison report having used drugs in the month before custody. Nearly two-thirds report regular alcohol use before entering prison. A significant proportion have experienced childhood trauma, been in care, or grown up in chaotic households. This isn’t coincidence. It’s a pipeline.

County lines has made it worse. The National Crime Agency estimates that thousands of children are exploited each year in drug distribution networks. These are not criminal masterminds. Many are 14, 15, 16-year-olds groomed by older gang members, often threatened or coerced. Research shows that some county lines “runners” earn less than minimum wage once debts and exploitation are factored in. Yet they risk prison or death.

I remember one young man vividly. He was 18 years old. No stable family. No strong guidance. He had been on remand in the adult prison where I worked. I asked him how his court case had gone. He told me quietly: “I got life.” He had stabbed someone over a bicycle — a situation rooted in drug-related conflict. Two young lives destroyed. Two families shattered. And the state left to deal with the aftermath for decades.

We cannot police our way out of this.

The UK spends billions each year on drug enforcement, policing, courts and imprisonment. Yet drug-related deaths in England and Wales are at record levels, over 4,900 in the most recent annual figures. That is the highest rate since records began. Meanwhile, our prisons are overcrowded, and reoffending rates remain stubbornly high — around 25% overall, and much higher for short sentences.

Other countries have tried something different. Portugal decriminalised personal possession of all drugs in 2001. Drug use did not explode. Instead, drug-related deaths and HIV transmission fell sharply. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction reports that Portugal’s drug mortality rate remains significantly below the European average. Crucially, drug use became a public health issue rather than purely a criminal one.