Green leader condemns ‘high on drugs’ jibe while calling for full legalisation

The Green Party leader has reiterated his support for decriminalising drugs, after a jibe from the Prime Minister.

Zack Polanksi appeared on the BBC’s ‘Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg’ programme where he stated that, while he has never done drugs, he believes people should be able to take the dangerous substances without fear of arrest.

In a recent Prime Minister’s Questions, Keir Starmer suggested Polanski must be “high on drugs” to propose legalisation, which has been labelled by a Number 10 source as ‘reckless’ and ‘irresponsible’.

‘Fun police’

Polanksi hit back at Starmer’s comment, saying: “I’ve actually never taken a drug in my life, or even drunk alcohol, but I still don’t sit here as the fun police”.

He added: “If anyone wants to do it and they’re doing it safely I’m glad people are having a good time, but we know lots of people aren’t taking it safely, so let’s make sure they get the support they need.”

The Green Party leader stated that the “war on drugs is not working”, claimed it is “making drugs more dangerous”, and suggested “actually what we need is a grown-up conversation based on evidence”.

However, the President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists warned last year that teenagers who smoke high-strength cannabis are damaging their brains, stating: “cannabis is associated with a higher risk of anxiety, depression, and, unfortunately, a higher risk of psychosis”.

‘It didn’t work’

In Canada, British Columbia’s pilot scheme to decriminalise drugs ended on 31 January and is not being renewed.

It legalised small quantities of drugs, including highly addictive substances such as cocaine and heroin, testing the hypothesis that it would better enable people to seek treatment without the concern of criminal sanction.

David Eby, Premier of British Columbia and leader of its New Democratic Party, told reporters that decriminalisation “didn’t work”, stating: “I was wrong on drug decriminalisation and the effect that it would have.”

Eby explained that instead of reducing drug deaths, it became “a permissive structure that, in the effort to reduce stigma that it was okay to use drugs anywhere, resulted in really unhappy consequences”.