Text 7 connie, 70, campaigns for legal recreational drugs

A retired surgeon will lead calls this week for ecstasy and other recreational drugs to be legalized in a bid to stamp out violent crime fuelled by the illegal drugs trade.

Selling purified forms over the counter, alongside alcohol and cigarettes, would make drugtaking safer and could benefit the community at large, according to 70-year-old Connie Fozzard, who will emerge as the farther unlikely champion of the cause.

Although Fozzard’s motion to the British Medical Association’s annual conference is sure to divide opinions of her colleagues, she believes it is time for a public debate over “nanny state” attitudes. The government should “be treating people as adults and not treating adults as children in their own homes,” says Fozzard.

She claims that crimes committed by addicts to pay for their habits are terrifying the elderly. “The object of this exercise is to get rid of drug trafficking and disruption because it would be legal to use the drugs but not to cause disruption as a result of that, in just the same way as alcohol.”

“That would make a level playing field. I think there is something to be said for that and I think there should be a debate about it. At the moment you have got so many people who are frightened in their own homes and frightened out of them, who are housebound simply because of the muggings and burglaries which are done to fuel the habit.”

Legalizing the production of drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy could also deliver doses free of the contaminants often ‘cut’ into illegally produced substances to maximize profits. “There is an element of ensuring that what is used is purified and standardized,” she added. “And if it goes through licensed premises then it can be taxed just like alcohol. If it were taxed, you could control the quantity that is released on the market. It would take this stuff off the street.”

The motion calls for the expansion of “the range of legal recreational drugs available beyond alcohol and tobacco which are quality controlled and taxable.” It is likely to trigger argument, with mental health specialists in particular concerned about the long-term impact of cannabis and ecstasy use: the BMA advised against legalizing cannabis basing their decision on the evidence given to the Home Affairs Select Committee. However, Fozzard, who forged an impressive career in surgery in an era when it was dominated almost exclusively by an “old boys’ network,” is likely to be unfazed.

“My own view is somewhat mixed on this. I can see both sides of the arguments, but I think it’s an argument that should get out into the public voice,” she said.

Last year’s select committee report rejected legalization but recommended the downgrading of ecstasy – currently a Class A drug, like heroin – to a Class B, with less severe penalties for possession. Ministers rejected the advice but have agreed to downgrade cannabis from Class A to Class C, the least strictly regulated category for prohibited drugs. However, the Home Office remains strictly opposed to legalization.

Some experts argue that cannabis is less dangerous than tobacco, disregarding evidence linking it to schizophrenia and mental illness.

Ecstasy use was linked to more than 40 deaths in 2001, with research showing it may cause long-term depression. Furthermore, one study of 81 ecstasy-related deaths between 1997 to 2000 found that six died from ecstasy poisoning alone, with 50 having consumed a cocktail of drugs. The rest were down to heart failure, caused by recreational drugtaking, as well as trauma or accidents like drowning while under the influence.

Still more sinister evidence is provided by specialists working in obstetrics and gynaecology. Thus, a midwife at her hospital conducted a research into drugtaking among mothers of babies needing special care. She had thought it might apply in around 2% of causes – in fact, it turned out to be nearer 10%.

(http://www.theobserver.com)