Now, onto the meat of drug policy – what an independent Wales could do differently.
Let’s assume that recreational drugs which are currently illegal remain illegal after independence. What strategies would be available to an independent Wales in order to to “win” the domestic front in the War on Drugs?
Firstly, it’s worth deciding what “winning” the War on Drugs looks like.
This isn’t something that someone can have a fixed opinion on and say: “This is the right thing to do”.
There are too many factors at play here – crossing into culture, morality, ethics, criminology, psychology, health, science and social policy – for one person or one committee to decide on a course of action.
So this would be perfect for a citizens’ assembly or a similar commission to look into in more detail.
For the sake of offering my opinion, of the four strategies presented here the public health/harm reduction approach is the one that would have the most political buy-in, potentially as a first step towards decriminalisation.
Fundamentally, social conditions need to improve to such an extent that people don’t feel the need to start using recreational drugs in the first place.
There’s a case (but not a slam dunk one) for drug legalisation (and I’m not just talking about cannabis) – which would be the nuclear option. More on that next week.
