The war on drugs isn’t working, so let’s stop pretending it is

This is a big step for any state to take, an admission that the absurd war first unleashed by President Richard Nixon has been both wrong and wasteful of resources. But in the past few days Ireland has become the latest nation to contemplate reform, appointing a minister with special responsibility to examine the relaxation of drug laws. “Someone who has an addiction issue should be dealt with through the health system and not the criminal justice system,” said the minister Aodhán Ríordáin, adding that the police would agree with him.

Mr Ríordáin was echoing President Barack Obama, who has encouraged the tilting of US policy away from prohibition by rightly saying he supports science over ideology. Already 23 states have sanctioned medical use of marijuana and four have legalised cannabis for recreational use; several more, including California, could follow suit after ballots of voters. Cannabis is said to be the fastest-growing US industry, worth about $3 billion and creating tens of thousands of jobs, with states finding a new source of revenue while enabling police to concentrate on more serious criminals than student potheads.

Now the impact can start to be seen across the border, where drug cartels created bloody havoc for decades as they fought over huge profits from supplying North American drug users. In Mexico, the number of murders fell from a high four years ago of almost 23,000 deaths to 15,649 last year. Meanwhile, Mexican security forces have seen a sharp drop in cannabis seizures, down by almost one-third in a year, while prices have halved. ‘If the US continues to legalise pot, they’ll run us into the ground,’ one man in the trade told a radio station recently.

The Central American countries sandwiched between southern suppliers and wealthy users to the north have been devastated by drug gangs, turning cities into the world’s most dangerous urban zones outside of war. Similar corrosion can be seen in West Africa, as new trade routes to Europe opened up, undermining struggling states, corrupting politicians and enriching terror gangs. Drug-trafficking was a key reason for the collapse of Mali three years ago, which allowed militant Islamists to grab two-thirds of the country.

Little wonder the world is slowly waking up to the stupidity of prohibition. More than 20 countries from the Czech Republic to Uruguay have brought in forms of decriminalisation, which makes sense on economic, social, political and moral grounds. Yet Britain, with the highest rates of drug use in Europe, still gives 80,000 people a criminal record each year for doing something some Cabinet ministers have confessed to enjoying in their youth. It’s one more reason for the disconnect between Westminster and the electorate, especially younger voters, while victims die needlessly from the uncontrolled market in narcotics.

In this election, both the Greens and Liberal Democrats propose decriminalisation, while a pro-reform party is standing in 32 constituencies. But it should really be the Tories leading the way by demanding legalisation of drugs – and not just to connect with sections of the electorate they struggle traditionally to reach. After all, this reform is tough on crime, fiscally responsible, safeguards families, promotes growth and strengthens global security. It is a policy that is highly conservative while also potentially transformative to the party brand – something to ponder as those smugglers’ corpses are placed in their coffins, symbols of a war that can never be won.