Our candidate, Tim Kiely has authored this recent article on Left Foot Forward on Keir Starmer’s ‘baffling’ policy on drugs.
Read the full article here: Keir Starmer’s backwards approach on drugs policy is baffling.
Tim draws on his experience as a criminal barrister in which he sees “that black people are convicted of cannabis possession at more than 11 times the rate of white people, despite twice as many white respondents as black ones reporting drug use.”
The Green Party proposes one of the most progressive drug policies in the country, drawing on evidence from policies in Portgual which have seen great successes in legalising and regulating the sale of cannabis and other illegal substances. As Tim Kiely argues, “Instead of the pointless, tough-on-crime chest-beating I have seen so often from Labour or the Tories, we would legalise and regulate all drugs. This would take the market out of the hands of criminals and very likely save lives at a time when drug-related deaths are breaking records.”
Instead, Siân Berry, the Green Party’s candidate for Mayor of London, will bring this approach to City Hall. She wants to deprioritise the use of stop and search for cannabis possession, and to divert people who have real problems with drug use away from the courts and towards proper support.