Alan Johnson was right to let David Nutt go

There have been a number of debates on this issue and of course everyone has their opinion on whether Alan Johnson was right to sack David Nutt.

My tuppence worth is that Alan Johnson was right in the point he put across in a letter to David Nutt stating that it is not the job of the chair [David Nutt] to comment or initiate a public debate on the policy framework for drugs.

However I also agree with David Nutt that alcohol is probably far more dangerous then drugs but he was hired to do a job whereby the drugs ranking was the issue at hand and not making a comparison as did and once before that about horse riding being more dangerous. That message only implies that cannabis is safe to use as oppose to saying that horse riding (or alcohol) should be regulated tightly. I’m sure taking cannabis is less risky then a lot of activities in life – it does not mean that we give up those things and start smoking.

This is the point that people are missing out. Both Mr Johnson and Mr Nutt are right in their own corner but ultimately we elected a government to create policy and regulate society. This means Alan Johnson cannot simply isolate facts given by David Nutt and act on it alone. He has to look at society as a whole – what we have been use to, where we want to go [this is where he would use scientific evidence amongst other things] and then work out how slowly or quickly he can turn the direction that society has been use to. He needs to determine what kind of signal to send out and what kind of society we want to live in.

How many times in our life have we been warned by others that, for example, one is likely to get mugged whilst walking at night, or driving or crossing the road can be dangerous. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do those things and sit and smoke pot.

Is society trying to say that we should legalise cannabis and ban alcohol? Are we as a British society ready for such a dramatic shift? This would mean seeing a reduction in pubs (not a bad thing by the way), their opening hours and perhaps regulation on how much one can buy in the shops and supermarkets whilst on the other hand see the establishment of cafes where society can go and smoke cannabis like in Amsterdam. By simply saying that cannabis is not as bad as alcohol is open to misinterpretation. I think the issue of alcohol is an important one and needs to be considered as a separate topic to that of cannabis. The issue at the moment is cannabis.

Campaigners and lobby groups argue publicly what government policy should be however people in positions that David Nutt held should be cautious on what they say. However correct they feel they are public forum is not a place for them to air their disagreements or criticise government measures but rather they should discuss it with government at a direct level.

It is Alan Johnson’s job to determine, based on a number of facts and issues and public opinion, which direction society is heading and what society’s concerns are and then to make policy to regulate society.

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~ by intueri09 on November 25, 2009.