Angus Liberal Democrats have launched a petition calling on the sale of so called Legal Highs to end immediately. Following the news that the Montrose Evape-o-lution shop has been broken into for a second time, concerns have been raised that dangerous drugs are finding their way onto our streets.
The petition calls on the owners of the shops in Montrose, Arbroath and across Tayside to stop selling Novel Psychoactive Substances with immediate effect.
The petition can be found online by clicking here. If you want to share the address of the petition, Citi is http://bit.ly/StopLegalHighs
There is no legitimate use of these products, which is why the UK Government has indicated that they will be banned in future. The owners should stop exploiting the vulnerable and stop selling them immediately.
With the Montrose shop is getting broken into repeatedly, these dangerous drugs are finding their way onto the streets and may lead to serious health issues for people living in Angus.
Lib Dem Montrose Cllr David May said,
“The shop was broken into twice today and this is at least the third time of being broken into. There is no doubt many of their products have been stolen. There are some very serious questions about security in the shop if the so called legal highs products can be removed so easily.”
“This is especially worrying as it is clear that the products so many of these types of shops sell are not safe and have led to deaths as well as real long term health problems for so many people.”
It’s illiberal enough to want to illegalise these drugs.
But telling people they shouldn’t do it even when it is legal?
Let’s hope your particular brand of hypocrisy is wiped off the political map in May.
Chris,
first off, it is not clear that the sale of these substances for the purpose of being consumed is indeed legal, and will be tested in due course:
http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/news/local/angus/first-man-25-charged-over-legal-highs-in-tayside-1.776856
As a Lib Dem, I want to see a common sense drugs policy and like most Lib Dems and in line with our policy, I support the decriminalisation of possession of drugs, particularly lower classifications. There is mounting evidence that this is an effective approach when combined with a significant increase in the provision of treatment for addiction, and the underlying causes that lead to substance abuse.
The recent Home Office report that was suppressed by Theresa May and led to the resignation of Lib Dem Home Office minister, Norman Baker MP, recommended decriminalisation of possession, but continued to support their sale being illegal.
It also recommends that the sale of Novel Psychoactive Substances be made illegal and the the expectation is that they will be by the next UK Government.
There is mounting evidence that Novel Psychoactive Substances are highly dangerous. There is no legitimate purpose for their sale.
I do not believe that legalisation rather than decriminalisation of possession is more liberal, rather than libertarian. That only looks at the issue from the perspective of the individual rather than the perspective of close family members and wider society.
So I do not agree that there is anything illiberal about calling for stopping the sale of a highly dangerous product that is slated to be made illegal in the future.
If you think they’re breaking the law, then you’d better report them to the police rather than starting a petition (and also, incidentally, you’d better amend the title of your article!).
Otherwise, until and unless the law is changed, they have every right to do what they’re doing, and you are just one more busybody trying to tell other people how to lead their lives. And liberals do _not_ launch petitions to try to intimidate people who are exercising their rights under the rule of law.
Would calling for stopping the sale of DDT before it was banned be illiberal? When we have got to a point where the evidence is clear that a product is harmful and will be made illegal in future, I think is entirely legitimate to criticise profiteering from exploitation of the vulnerable.
The police are very aware of the activity which has been reported by various local residents and discussed with the police by local elected representatives. They are clearly keen to test the law to confirm whether it is indeed already illegal.
Title duly changed.
Look. If you think it’s illegal and the police are aware of it, leave it to them – raising a petition to ask people to stop breaking the law is ludicrous.
If you want to change the law, campaign for the law to be changed. But don’t harass individuals who are currently acting within their legal rights. Nobody in this country – and certainly no liberal – should need to be told that’s not how politicians should behave.