Sally
Davies says drug addiction should be seen as a medical problem and admits
eating hash cookies at university
theguardian.com,
Press Association, Monday 19 August 2013
Sally Davies: 'Addiction is a medical problem ... and our society is choosing to treat that as a criminal justice issue.' Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images |
England's
chief medical officer has said drug addiction should be seen as a medical
problem, but that society chooses to treat it as a criminal justice issue.
Professor
Dame Sally Davies's comments came as she told BBC Radio 3's Private Passions
that she ate hash cookies at university.
Davies said
of her university days in the 1970s: "I never smoked so I couldn't smoke
joints but I did have some cookies, until on the third or fourth occasion I had
hallucinations and I've never touched it since.
"And I
think I understood through that what my father said to me when I told him I was
going to try it. He said: 'Drugs decivilise you. You stop being a civilised
person.'
"And I
understood why so many people were against even the soft drugs. So, like the
fact I do enjoy wine, I'm open about my past."
She added:
"Of course it's a medical problem, I mean addiction is a medical problem,
and it becomes a public health problem and then our society is choosing to
treat that as a criminal justice issue."
A
Department of Health spokesman said: "Drugs ruin lives and cause misery to
families and communities and this government is committed to breaking the cycle
of drug and alcohol dependency.
"The
UK approach is to consider drug use as both a health and criminal issue and so
the CMO is not saying anything new."
Related Articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.