Should We Tolerate Any Drug Dealing?

If you want a depressing laugh, then read this article.

I know it's not good English by me, but I had a grim smile on my face when I read it. Hot on the heels of my article on 'Think Tanks' and their stupid outputs which we all pay handsomely for, we have another pile of codswallop to wade through this morning.

This time its from the UK Drug Policy Commission who advocate that by being hard on drug dealers we are actually making the problem worse. Part of their argument is that if you focus on being nasty to drug dealers in certain parts of a city, then they move to other parts to terrorise that area. Indeed, if you take one off the streets, you risk more violent ones taking their place or even 'turf wars' and gangs fighting for the selling patch.

Studies show that in fact, if you are nice to drug dealers then violence drops - or at least it did in Boston, USA where murders dropped as a result of being more tolerant to dealers.

The report advocates being 'smart' like trying to persuade drug dealers not to sell in car parks or school playgrounds but in their homes.

I stopped reading as my smile turned to utter despair. Here we are fighting a war on the Taliban that we think by using strong tactics and violence we can bring down a whole regime and doctrine but in our home land we should be tolerating the scum of the earth. I must be living in a dreamworld.

A quick look at this magnificent Think Tank's website reveals the obvious. There are 4 full time staff, one of which is the 'office manager' because you need someone in charge of photocopying and paperclips, while the Board of freeloading 'commissioners' (a commissioner is a person who may turn up on a Russian Oligarch's £80m boat in European speak - here I have no idea what it means) who get paid at minimum expenses and at most some kind of fee for their time, is as long as your arm. No change there then as there are 12 of the blighters. As usual, they are the list of the great and the good on the gravy train that is Non Executive Directors and perennial sitters on Boards of Quangos and Trusts and is headed by Dame Ruth Runciman DBE who sits on a few other sundry boards, although she has a good deal of experience in talking about drug matters - all helpful experience in formulating daft policies.

The reassuring thing is that we are paying good tax money for all this superb advice.