January 2026:

We had a lively and informative discussion on whether or not it would benefit society to legalise drugs, led by Jackie in our new meeting venue, which was comfortable and welcoming.

We made a clear definition of the drugs we were discussing and began with the legislation on  prohibition being introduced after WWII, with an approach to alcohol and dangerous drugs.

We discussed the effects on individuals, but more so of the effect on our society of the misuse of drugs. We discussed many drugs which had been introduced intending to benefit our health, including cocaine as an anaesthetic at the dentist and Kaolin and Morphine as a cough mixture, both of which were part of our childhood. We also referred to surveys that demonstrated that cannabis has more additives and its modern day format has been cut with various impurities which have their own side effects. At this point we began to clearly define the difference between social drug use and highly addictive drugs.

Navigating our way through the various levels of illegal drugs, and sharing a few humorous anecdotes along the way, I believe that the consensus was that we do need to try something different and that a staged approach to decriminalising drugs, initially targeting cannabis and including a strong programme of education, as has happened with smoking and the younger generation, could be the best approach.

Whilst we felt that we would never eradicate drug use, we felt that it was time to begin to take the power from the drug barons. We also felt that be decriminalising the use of Cannabis it may free up our prison service somewhat.