Our Man in Westminster – Normalising Drug Taking is Not the Answer, the Greens Have Got it Wrong – KentOnline

During my time working in mental health services, I saw just how damaging the affects the use of illicit drugs can be for vulnerable people.

This is why, when the Greens began to float the idea of drug decriminalisation, I found it so concerning. Although, the arguments about non-violent crimes taking up prison space and citing examples of countries such as Portugal having promising rehabilitation rates are initially enticing, I can assure you from what I saw from over 20 years’ experience, that this is only half the picture that does not show the risks caused by drug abuse to both mental and physical health.

In my experience, the drug abuse I witnessed in the NHS not so much causation vs correlation as some argue – it was, rather the two working in a sort of vicious tandem. Many patients who I cared for who were already predisposed to mental health issues had often turned to drug abuse. And in turn, there were many patients who had ended up in one of our units as a direct result of illicit drug abuse.

It is a largely privileged position that senior Green Party politicians find themselves in – arguing this point from an academic or policy perspective; without witnessing the genuinely damaging side-effects of illicit drug abuse, such as paranoia, schizophrenia, or acute psychotic episodes. This is without considering the number of drug related deaths. There were 115 in Kent in 2024 – six of which were in my Constituency.

The cuts to community drug and alcohol services under the Tories have undoubtedly worsened this issue. The services in the community which people suffering from addiction could turn have largely been closed across the country; however, that doesn’t mean we should be looking to a form of decriminalisation or legalisation. Far from it. It means greater investment and working harder to irradicate the issue that is causing serious harm to very vulnerable people. And, like many of the issues caused by austerity, illicit drug abuse disproportionately affects working class people – something which again is seemingly ignored by Green Party politicians in a privileged enough position not to see its devastating effects.

It is my firmly held belief, shaped from my time in the NHS, that any form of decriminalisation would not just be irresponsible, it would be dangerous for vulnerable people. The topic of drug decriminalisation should not be a political football for politicians to kick around to score points with their base. It’s a serious issue that could have dire consequences. I do understand the frustration with people who say that the so-called “war on drugs” has not worked – it clearly hasn’t. There were too many people being admitted to mental health services because of drug taking when I worked there. However, that doesn’t mean the answer is to normalise drug taking so people do it more. We must improve mental health and NHS addiction services to both prevent and help people recover from drug abuse.