Interview

One minute interview

Danny Kushlick is director of the Transform Drug Policy foundation

What is the campaign about?

The mission of Transform Drug Policy Foundation is to minimise drug-related harm to individuals and communities by bringing about a just, humane and effective system to regulate and control drugs at national and international levels. We work with the policy makers, media, and other NGOs to develop and promote effective alternatives to the failings of the so-called ‘war on drugs’.

How long have you been going?

Transform was set up in 1996. In 2002 we became a charity, evolving from a more traditional grass roots campaign into a dedicated drug policy think tank.

Who is involved?

We have three permanent staff supported by a network of volunteers and an active board of trustees. We have support from MPs and Lords, police, academics, parents, drugs workers, and variety of public figures.

Your biggest success?

Significant changes to legislation are still some time away but we have succeeded in pushing drug law reform up the political agenda and making a legalisation a credible position to espouse publicly.

We gave detailed evidence to the home affairs select committee inquiry into UK drug policy. One of the committee’s key recommendations was ‘that the government initiates a discussion within the Commission on Narcotic Drugs of alternative ways – including the possibility of legalisation and regulation – to tackle the global drugs dilemma’.

Your biggest failure?

We sometimes get too preoccupied with the policy side of our work and take our eye off the ball in terms of organisational planning and funding. This meant that last year staff were unpaid for several months. But we now have a solid long-term organisational strategy and have secured significant new funding.

Your most immediate concern?

To make people aware of the connection between prohibition and crime. The collision of rising demand for drugs with a policy that prohibits them has created a lucrative and dangerous illegal market that enriches criminal gangs and forces dependent users into crime (as much as half of all property crime) to pay inflated prices. This policy is filling our prisons and is largely responsible for the recent rise in gun violence. It is vital people understand these effects.

What would help most in achieving your ends?

What is required is for policy makers to move away from the populist hysteria of the tabloid law and order debate and approach the drugs issue as rational social scientists examining the evidence of what works and what doesn’t. We are trying to promote an evidence-based approach by critiquing current failings and proposing effective alternatives. About £250,000 a year for the next ten years would also be very helpful...

And how can readers get in touch?

You can find our more about us at www.tdpf.org.uk. Alternatively, write to Transform, Easton Business Centre, Felix Road, Bristol, BS5 0HE, or call us on 0117 941 5810.