Opinion

Drug prohibition isn't working - and the problem is getting worse in lockdown

Britain’s drug policy is based more on the country's history of war, snobbery, and racism than on evidence of what works.

By Laura Mehers

Drug prohibition isn't working - and the problem is getting worse in lockdown — Cocaine use continues to rise, and prohibition is increasingly ineffective. Pikrepo/CC0.

Published: November 03, 2020, 11:28 am

Britain’s ‘war on drugs’ is failing. It’s been failing abjectly for decades. But the current government is in denial about that failure, and remains adamantly committed to prohibition.

Last week official data revealed that drug crimes rose 30% during the peak months of lockdown compared to the same period last year.

Recreational drug use is rising steadily too. In 2017, 8.5% of adults aged 16-59 admitted to having taken an illicit drug at least once – roughly 4.5 million people. And last year saw the highest recorded number of drug-related deaths to date, with 4,393 deaths involving illicit or prescription drugs in England and Wales, including 708 related to cocaine alone.

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