You’ve seen the news headlines: yes, the Green Party supports legal, regulated access to all drugs for adult consumption. What that means, however, is very different to what the tabloids would like us all to think, explains Lydney’s Green Party hopeful, Dave Barton.

As a Green Party candidate, I don’t want to shy away from the big problems that we face here in the Forest of Dean; which is why addressing an issue like drugs – that affects so many and has such problematic and devastating consequences – has to be a priority.

I was at a drug reform lobbying event at the Houses of Parliament recently; as a member of the Green Party’s Drug Policy Group, supporting the charity Anyone’s Child. What amazed me was hearing the same message reiterated by those whose friends, family members, and even children had died from drug overdoses:

“We need to end prohibition: now”

For legalisation to be seen as a solution was a hard concept for me to get my head around at first. It seems counterintuitive from a number of different angles. Let’s be real: legalising something ‘bad’ seems like a pretty obvious way of reducing crime.

But that’s precisely the point: the stigma of criminality associated with the use of drugs is what’s doing the most damage. Users might break the law, but treating them as criminals hasn’t prevented deaths.

Learning that an average of 120 people die every week in the UK from preventable drug abuse, it’s clear that prohibition has failed so many people in the 55 years since the introduction of the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act.

While most of us equate the act of ‘doing’ drugs as the sole source of abuse; it extends far beyond that. The ‘junkies’ that many consider a danger to society are usually the victims in the War on Drugs. They’re ordinary people turning to black market-sold substances to escape difficult life circumstances, traumatic upbringings, domestic abuse, and poverty. Sometimes they’re co-opted into addiction by force or exploited by criminal gangs.

The stigma of shame associated with drug addiction is far-reaching; and few politicians want to tackle the issue head-on in a way that’s radically different to what’s in place already: which isn’t working.

We, as Greens, want to repair the damage. And we’ll do that through decriminalisation, regulation, and healthcare services – not by tackling addiction with the same iron fist as a crime epidemic.

So when the naysayers – like the outgoing PM – start decrying that the Green Party is pledging to put ‘crack dens in playgrounds’ remember: this already happens under the current government.

What we want to do is give people the right support and advice, safe access to what they need, and to reduce stigma – so that adults (NOT kids) can make sensible, informed choices about how they want to feel.

The more this subject is ignored, the more lives are at risk.