Ken Clarke: Britain plainly losing war on drugs

And the Governments leading adviser, Prof Les Iversen, has said that young people caught in possession of banned substances such as cannabis should be spared criminal prosecution to prevent their futures being blighted.

Mr Clarke told the Home Affairs Select Committee, which is carrying out the first parliamentary investigation into drugs for almost a decade: I have not reached the stage of that blinding insight about exactly how we are going to improve our record, is the honest truth.

We have been engaged in a war against drugs for 30 years. We're plainly losing it. We have not achieved very much progress. The same problems come round and round.

But I do not despair - we keep trying every method we can to get on top of what's one of the worst social problems for the country and the biggest single cause of crime.

I have frankly conceded that policy has not been working. We are all disappointed by the fact that far from making progress it could be argued we are going backwards at times.

However he added: The Government has no intention whatever of changing the criminal law on drugs.

My own purely personal view is that I would be worried about losing the deterrent effect of criminalisation of youngsters who start experimenting.

The really key thing is to try to work out how to get fewer young people to start experimenting with drugs.

One thing that does put them off is that they would get into trouble with the police.

His comments on the failing war on drugs were welcomed by Prof David Nutt, the former chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs who was sacked after accusing ministers of devaluing scientific evidence on cannabis.

Go here to see the original:
Ken Clarke: Britain plainly losing war on drugs