Harking back to an earlier discussion: heroin was criminalised in the UK 50 years ago this week...
news.bbc.co.uk
"The Case for Heroin" - so ran the headline for the Times leader column of Tuesday, 14 June 1955.
In the course of a short, lucid article the newspaper which had long been the mouthpiece of Establishment Britain set out its argument in favour of heroin.
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In fact, as the Times editorial states, in 1955 there were only 317 addicts to "manufactured" drugs in the whole of Britain, of which just 15% were dependent on heroin. That's a national total of 47.5 heroin addicts. History, regrettably, does not record the precise circumstances of the half-addict.
By contrast, in the US, where heroin was outlawed in 1925, it was said to be a "major social problem".
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Clearly, the fact heroin was legal and widely prescribed for common ailments such as coughs, colds and diarrhoea, as well as a pain killer, had not led to the sort of widespread dependency that opponents of legalisation fear it would do if legalised today.
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"The police had a very tight rein on what was going on. The Home Office kept a register of addicts and there was never more than 500 at one time," says Dr James Mills.
Mind you, by now it may be too late to cram that particular genie all the way back into the bottle.
I shan't rehash all the same arguments; just thought this interesting and detailed corroboration. |
