Peter Hitchens, the journalist and younger brother of the late Christopher Hitchens, is always controversial, but not always for the sake of it. In his new book on the war on drugs, he argues that rather than fight this war, governments have chosen instead to decriminalise drug taking or have chosen not to enforce the law. There is a fascinating interview with Hitchens about his new book in the Guardian - click here.
Is the taking of drugs not a private issue? No! The externalities that are imposed on wider society by the taking of drugs (legal and illegal) are potentially huge. It is estimated that the abuse of class A drugs alone costs the UK economy £15.3bn per annum. You can read a paper on the economics of drug taking here.
