Using illegal drugs is like gambling or eating junk food and there needs to be a wholesale review of the Government's approach, the independent body that analyses drug laws has said. There are "some moderately selfish or risky behaviours that free societies accept will occur and seek to limit", the final report of the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC) said. Its six-year study found much of the 3 billion the UK spends annually on tackling illicit drugs is not based on evidence and, until Government pursues policies based on what works, it will continue to waste public money and damage lives. Calling for a "wholesale review" of drugs laws and the classification system, it said possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use should be made a civil offence instead of a criminal offence. Some 42,000 people in England and Wales are sentenced each year for the possession of drugs, with about 160,000 people given cannabis warnings, the report added. For cannabis, there was also "an argument that amending the law relating to the growing of it, at least for personal use, might go some way to undermining the commercialisation of production", the UKDPC said. The commission called for … Continue reading →

LONDON (Reuters) - Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who take stimulants such as Ritalin tend to feel the drugs help them control their behavior and do not turn them into "robots" as many skeptics assume, a study found on Monday. The research, which for the first time asked children taking ADHD drugs what they felt about their treatment and its effects, found that many said medication helped them manage their impulsivity and make better decisions. "With medication, it's not that you're a different person. You're still the same person, but you just act a little better," said Angie, an 11-year-old from the United States who took part in the study and was quoted in a report about its findings. The results are likely to further fuel the debate in the United States and Europe about whether children with ADHD, some as young as four years old, should be given stimulants. ADHD is one of the most common childhood disorders in the United States, where an average 9 percent of children between the ages of five and 17 are diagnosed with it each year. In Britain experts estimate that between 5 and 10 percent of children and adolescents have … Continue reading →

Brad Pitt no longer uses drugs but has confessed he could still get his hands on anything he wanted. The 48-year-old father-of-six - who opened up about his former marijuana habit earlier this year - said he no longer uses drugs but is confident he would have no problem getting his hands on anything he wanted within 24 hours. The 'Killing Them Softly' actor said: 'My drugs days are long since passed but it's certainly true that I could probably land in any city in any state and get you whatever you wanted. I could find anything you were looking for. Give me 24 hours or so.' Brad was speaking to the audience at a Los Angeles screening for the new hard-hitting documentary he executive produced called 'The House I Live In' about the war on drugs on Friday , according to the Huffington Post. He said: 'We have spent a trillion dollars. It's lasted for over 40 years. A lot of people have lost their lives for it. And yet we still talk about it like it's this success.' Earlier this year, the 'Moneyball' star revealed he once used drugs as a way to escape the pressures of fame … Continue reading →

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Brad Pitt has thrown his weight behind a documentary that blasts America's 40-year war on drugs as a failure, calling policies that imprison huge numbers of drug-users a "charade" in urgent need of a rethink. The Hollywood actor came aboard recently as an executive producer of filmmaker Eugene Jarecki's "The House I Live In," which won the Grand Jury Prize in January at the Sundance Film Festival. The film opened in wide release in the United States on Friday. Ahead of a Los Angeles screening, Pitt and Jarecki spoke passionately about the "War on Drugs" which, according to the documentary, has cost more than $1 trillion and accounted for over 45 million arrests since 1971, and which preys largely on poor and minority communities. "I know people are suffering because of it. I know I've lived a very privileged life in comparison and I can't stand for it," Pitt told Reuters on Friday, calling the government's War on Drugs policy a "charade." "It's such bad strategy. It makes no sense. It perpetuates itself. You make a bust, you drive up profit, which makes more people want to get into it," he added. "To me, there's no … Continue reading →