By Should drugs be legalised for personal use.
A group of MPs has said the government should investigate decriminalising the possession of all illegal drugs in a bid to prevent the rising number of related deaths.
They said possession of illicit drugs for personal use should be decriminalised.
The health and social care committee said the level of such deaths in the UK had become a public health “emergency”.
There were 2,670 deaths directly attributed to drug misuse in England last year – an increase from 2017
The report found the UK’s policy on drugs was “clearly failing” and called for a “radical new approach” in policy.
The government said it had no plans to decriminalise drug possession.
Change need urgently.
MPs who sit on the committee said they were so concerned by the consequences of the UK’s drugs policy that they had rushed their report out early.
They urged the government to urgently consult on making the possession of drugs for personal use a civil rather than criminal matter – an approach they witnessed in Portugal, where drug death rates have fallen dramatically.
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