The Misuse of Drugs Act

*The Misuse of Drugs Act is a modern day ‘Moloch’*. It ensnares its victims in ‘tentacles of terror’ before feeding them into one of its three slavering mouths. Hundreds of thousands of people are sacrificed – loosing their liberty, dignity and careers in the belief that this monster protects us from the most dangerous ‘controlled’ drugs.

Michael Linnell:
Lifeline’s Director of Communications, who has written and illustrated the poster and booklet.

*A mythical demon that demands the sacrifice of its follower’s children (1 more about the Moloch).

Lifeline has today launched a poster and booklet designed to give people who use drugs up to date information about the drug laws.

Lifeline are calling for a rigorously evidence based review of the Misuse of Drugs Act to start immediately before any more prison sentences are handed out on the basis of such a flawed and unjust system.

Contact details
Contact Michael Linnell on 0161 214 0909. Mobile 07739 983 093
A high-resolution image of the poster is available on request. A web version of the poster and leaflet is available for viewing at. www.lifelinepublications.org
Notes: To find out more about Lifeline. www.lifeline.org.uk

Background
The original Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 was designed to make it possible to control particular drugs according to their comparative harmfulness either to individuals or society at large when they are misused. The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee report ‘Drug classification: making a hash of it?’ stated that the Misuse of Drugs Act is ‘Not fit for purpose’2, was highly critical of the Governments advisory body the ACMD and highlighted the lack of any evidence to support both the classification of drugs and indeed the entire premise of the Act acting as a deterrent to use3. The report urged the Home Secretary to honour his predecessor’s promise and order an immediate review of the Misuse of Drugs Act and called for the Government to ‘decouple the ranking of drugs on the basis of harm from penalties for possession and trafficking’.

‘There is no evidence that the Class a drug is placed in works as a deterrent. When it comes to possession for personal use, how can we justify handing out harsher punishments to those people who risk harming themselves
by using the most dangerous drugs. It’s a bit like hanging people for attempting to commit suicide’.
Kate Buchanan: Lifeline Senior Manager.

Lifeline are calling for a rigorously evidence based review of the act to start immediately before any more prison sentences are handed out on the basis of such a flawed and unjust system.

Notes
¹ The Moloch has been used as a metaphor (for everything from Hitler to American consumerism) many times in popular art and literature, from Milton ‘Of human sacrifice and parents tears’ (Paradise Lost) to Flaubert and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. More about the Moloch can be found at. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch

The image of the Moloch used in the poster and booklet was inspired by Glen Duncan’s novel ‘I Lucifer’, in which the devil talks about the problems of what to do with all the souls,

‘The only thing they seem to respond to is suffering. These days I delegate. Belial’s got a real taste for it. Moloch, too, though he’s got no imagination: he just eats them, shits them out, eats them, shits them out, eats them, etc. Does the trick, mind you’.

Both the quotes below are from: The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee report ‘Drug classification: making a hash of it?’ 18th July 2006.

² ‘The classification system purports to rank drugs on the basis of harm associated with their misuse but we found glaring anomalies in the classification system as it stands and a wide consensus that the current system is not fir for purpose’.

³ ‘We have found no solid evidence to support the existence of a deterrent effect, despite the fact that it appears to underpin the Government’s policy on classification. In view of the importance of drugs policy and the amount spent on enforcing the penalties associated with the classification system, it is highly unsatisfactory that there is so little knowledge about the classification system’s effectiveness.’

View the publication >>
View the full poster >>

Download the Press Release PDF >>

Support Drug Law Reform? You can now wear the t-shirt >>