Drugs – ‘Be empathetic but not soft’
Friday 17th December 2010, 2:29PM GMT.
GUERNSEY cannot be soft on drugs but it is important to deal with each case or person individually, the director of public health has said.
Dr Stephen Bridgman responded yesterday to a former Labour minister’s suggestion that drugs should be decriminalised because the UK’s war on substances had been ‘nothing short of a disaster’.
Dr Bridgman (pictured) did not support that view but said it was important that the island did not have a ‘one size fits all’ approach to handling people affected by drugs.
‘I think Guernsey’s drug policy is reasonably successful. It’s a small island so it’s able to police its borders. But all the time there are people trying to make profits from drugs, so there are some challenges for us.’
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Prohibition has not worked; maybe there should be a shift to allow the state to manage the system rather than ruthless drug dealers.
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Guernsey’s drug policy is far from successful. It’s a shame we don’t have a director of public health who can actually think for himself, and realise prohibition just doesn’t work.
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Minimal drug problem compared to most places, chilax and spark one up.
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How about “dob in a dealer” program with cash rewards?
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It’s not a border, it’s a coast,duhh ,have to change the headed notepaper and shoulder flashes again .
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The way we are hitting drugs and sellers to Importers still carry’s on till this day get rid of the stigma behind soft drugs (In which every body knows Alcohol is more Dangerous) open up a legal bar for over 21 without any Mental history have a card like a drivers licence and govern it you would be surprised how much revenue you would make plus keeping the importers drug traffickers and black cats Away from our lovely Island.
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make them legal simples
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Punitive measures are required to deal with the evil of drug use, trouble is no one will bite the bullet and introduce them. Twenty year jail sentence for dealers and ten years for users with no time off for good behaviour. This may seem harsh but at least it would sort the problem out. Anyone wishing to indulge would know what to expect and take their chances. I suspect that those that make the decisions either indulge themselves or have friends and family who do so will not consider taking any measures necessary so as to protect themselves or others.
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@ Blogger, what a ridiculous comment. I guess you must be a Daily Mail reader? Do you drink alcohol?
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blogger
What an intelligent, enlightened individual you must be. The US have tried sentences similar to those that you propose, and of course it was a total success, they have no drug problem whatsoever.
By the way, just what harm is someone causing you if they choose to smoke a joint?
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http://v9.lscache2.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id=3e87e2edba8cad40&itag=7&begin=0&ratebypass=yes&title=The+Union&ip=0.0.0.0&ipbits=0&expire=1292914670&sparams=ip,ipbits,expire,id,itag,ratebypass,title&signature=51501315ADF896CE9D5983B72C05421928826AFD.4D4F0FCCC89FAC6E5360948504A9359CDE42B38B&key=ck1
Watch this one then!
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Derek
Watched it.
I think you need drugs to get into it though!
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The problem is there will always be people like blogger who just read their daily mail headlines whilst drinking their red wine who make ludicrous uninformed comments.
Its this constant over reaction on drugs which keeps politicians from trying something different.
Lets see if anyone pays attention to the following
Legalising drugs works, if you do some research and think for yourselves instead of letting the mail do it for you you would see that, and you may be suprised.
Right, I’m off to share a doobie with Al Capone, theres bound to be a metaphor in there somewhere.
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@ Blogger – why should someone receive such punitive sentences for taking a recreational drug? 10 years for going out for the night, dancing badly and talking rubbish. How do they harm you?
“Drugs” is a small word that covers the whole pharmacopoeia, alcohol included.
There needs to be a grown-up debate about whether it is the substance or the prohibition that does the greatest harm to society.
What has been done to date has failed and leaving drugs policy in the hands of Daily Mail leader writers is not ideal. The trouble is that there are too many vested interests in maintaining the staus quo from producers, dealers, users through to law enforcement agencies (who depend on prohibition for their very existence) through to corrupt governments.
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The other aspect to this is also what proportion of the inmates of Les Nicolles are non-locals in there for drug related offences and how much of the taxpayers money is being spent on keeping them in there in style?
I would suspect that the majority of those are just the muppets that got persuaded to bring them in for some paltry sum rather than the dealers higher up the food chain that really make the big returns.
Giving them harsher and longer sentences won’t really be going towards solving the problem.
Not sure what the answers are but the prohibitive systems that we have in place at the moment don’t seem to be working. They’re the reason why we now have a succession of ‘legal highs’ that seem to be much more harmful than the drugs that they were actually produced to replace.
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“There needs to be a grown-up debate about whether it is the substance or the prohibition that does the greatest harm to society.”
Hello – I totally agree.
I think there is a fear in society that decriminalising drugs would result in a society of junkies. I’m not convinced of this personally as the evidence would suggest otherwise. Alcohol and tobacco are both addictive substances and yet we don’t live in a society full of alcoholics and compulsive smokers.
Pondering aloud for a moment….what if drugs were legalised, taxed and regulated? The money we spend fighting drug dealers and enforcing drug laws + the tax income could be used for better treatment facilities for those who do end up getting addicted.
We could also spend more addressing the psychological and sociological causes of addiction – why people find it necessary to take large quantities of mind-altering substances in the first place. I’m not talking about the odd bong here, but constant substance abuse that results in addiction.
I used to think prohibition was the key however now I’m not so sure. Put it this way – I’ve got sufficient doubt in my mind to think it is time for an objective root and branch review of drug policy.
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I read in the Jersey Evening Post on the same day that the former Labour ministers has suggested that some drugs should be decriminalised. There was no mention of Dr. Bridgeman, nor anyone else objecting to the ministers view. Why however in the Guernsey Press did it feel the need to quote Mr Bridgemans coments?
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Half the population are on mind altering drugs,albeit drugs prescribed by doctors.Not much chance of pot etc. being legalised being as how steroids are now banned,even though Guernsey doesnt have problems from steroid user’s.
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One would have to question why those who are willing to engage in constructive dialogue relating to the possible introduction of a controlled and regulated market for the, currently illicit, drugs, appear to be able to present balanced and objective reasoning, whilst the ‘middle-england’ Daily Fail types are only able to proffer the usual outrage and ignorant nonsense about ‘evil drugs’ and ‘stupid’ drug users.
Nobody, even ‘stupid’ drug users, is suggesting a hedonistic free-for-all when it comes to possible solutions to problematic drug consumption. If anything, we are proposing a system of strict controls in order to remove the criminalisation of the market and ensure that those who need help receive it and, unlike ethanol, there would be in place procedures and regulations to ensure, as best as can be achieved, that the young and the vulnerable would not have access to this market, along with the fact that, again, unlike ethanol, recreational drug use is not ‘normalised’ and turned into something akin to a competitive sport.
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We have a problem with underage drinking in Guernsey. Teenagers are able to get their hands on drink and hang around town or Fort Hommet or have house parties. I’m not disputing that alcohol is dangerous but personality altering drugs, the effects of which last longer than alcohol must surely be just as, if not more, damaging to a growing brain. Legalise drugs and you send out the wrong message to the youth and make it easier for them to get hold of the stuff. The majority of the youngsters I know wouldn’t know how to go about buying drugs at the moment. Make older siblings/parents able to buy it and legally keep it in the home and you can bet that the amount of young people who have taken drugs would increase. Having lived in London during my youth, it is a welcome change to see how relatively niave Guernsey teenagers can be towards drugs and it would do the island good to keep it that way.
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Prohibition doesn’t work on a national scale. It is obvious to anyone with half an eye or a quarter of a brain. It has been tried in America with alcohol, and with ilegal substances and look what happened.
Guernsey however isn’t America or the UK and its borders are far smaller that the vast, incomprehensible scale of the United States or even the UK.
I have seen the devastation that drugs, particularly heroin, can have on a community so I can honestly say that I am in favour of coming down heavily upon dealers. Very heavily. The problem is some of the biggest dealers are untouchable by governments or are so wrapped up in politics/government/law enforcement that to bring them down would be to bring down the institution/country.
Okay that (hopefully) isn’t the problem Guernsey faces. It is, however, what Nations of millions face.
Okay so prohibition won’t work. Legalise everything? That won’t work either. Bury your head in the sand? Nope. Throw millions away on the “war on drugs” when alcoholism and cigarette deaths are the biggest killers going? Seems silly doesn’t it?
Why can’t we accept that people world wide have had a healthy need and desire to get blotto in a myriad of mind bending ways? Have done since caveman times.
I can say that I have tried quite a few illicit substances and the most dangerous I have ever been is on booze. The Social problems created by alcohol extend across the spectrum of society. We aren’t going to ban booze are we? Marijuana is a herb, a plant, that can be used in cooking. Makes Delia Smith recipes much more interesting I can tell you. In small quantities it is safe and fun. The problem is coming from a drinking culture we feel the need to transfer that into the way we consume anything. Ectasy isn’t a particularly dangerous drug when taken responsibly. Infact it was origianlly set up as an appetite supressant in the First World War. It didn’t catch on for quite obvious reasons. Perhaps this is what happened in the Christmas of 1914?
For me though their isn’t a serious drug problem in Guernsey… there is, however quite a serious alcohol problem. Especially with the adults. The kids are just copying at a younger age.
I await the tirade of “THERE IS NO ALCOHOL PROBLEM IN GUERNSEY!!!”
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AntiDruggie i agree, also Le Ghet. Its the incomers who bring in their bad habits and want to change our island. Make the age for drinking 21 as in the states and by the way this is one rule which does work.
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Antidruggie
I must buy some of those Rose tinted specs you are wearing when you are viewing Guernsey teenagers.
Admittedely there are some naive ones around, but the majority are just as clued as their mainland counterparts.
As for personality altering, and damagine to a growing brain, well, no more so than everyones favourite……. alcohol.
It may pain you to realise this, but it doesnt seem to go in, Alcohol is scientifically proven to be much much more harmful than many of the drugs that could/should be legalised. The only reason Marijuana was made illegal was because the hemp industry was threatening the paper industry and they cried wolf with dirty tactics.
By banning these type of drugs you lose all quality control, the marijuana that is readily available today has been grown purely for strenghth and yield in someones attic, if this was legailsed and controlled, it would be safer.
Again, no-ones saying let your kids smoke weed, as much as we are not saying let your kids drink, either, lets but at least stop the 70 years of dogma and sexy adertising telling us how great booze is, and the contrasting negative propoganda against drugs.
Hmmmm, I wonder when the next legal(cannabalised dangerous chemical for human consumption as a replacement for safer cannabis until its banned a replaced by something even more dangerous) high will be available.
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mally t – the incomers to blame? again? which incomers? all of the them or any particular one? what a naff argument. without incomers you would still be shuffling around in the back of your dolmen. insular, isolationist, blame-game attitudes do not take this debate forward.
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