All illicit substances, including heroin and cocaine, should be legalized, according to a former drugs minister who will today become the most senior politician to push for a dramatic change in the strategy for tackling Britain’s drug problems.
Bob Ainsworth will argue that it is better for addicts to receive their fixes on prescription rather than relying for their supply on the international criminal gangs that make billions of pounds from the trade.
A former Home Office minister, Mr. Ainsworth was directly responsible for shaping Britain’s drugs policy and as the Defense Secretary, observed the huge poppy fields in the Afghanistan that are major suppliers to the West.
