UK: Police propose more lenient control measures for substance use

The National Council of Chief Police Officers and the UK Police College are developing new guidelines to address substance abuse as a public health issue. According to a report published by the British newspaper The Telegraph, the new approach aims to stop subjecting users of illicit substances to legal proceedings.

Users of illicit substances such as cannabis or cocaine may no longer be subject to legal proceedings if they consent to undergo addiction treatment, approaching the Portuguese model of decriminalization adopted in 2001. The national plan to combat consumption of illicit substances was carried out by the security authorities, namely by the National Council of Police Chiefs, together with the College of Policing, in order to deal with the issue within the scope of public health.

The formula found involves subjecting people arrested, for the first time, in possession or consumption of illicit substances, to education or treatment programs, as opposed to a fine or the recording of the incident in the criminal record.

Fourteen of the 43 police forces across England and Wales, including the West Midlands, Thames Valley and Durham, ranked among the most successful in Britain, already operate with similar protocols, but the new initiative seeks to establish a nationally consistent approach.

The move could put police and public health chiefs on a collision course with the government, which has proposed a tough new "three strikes and out" approach to recreational drug use, which could ban users from traveling abroad. out of the country or lose your driving licence.