46% of Tory members want a proper war on drugs; 39% want some form of decriminalisation
By Tim Montgomerie
Follow Tim on Twitter
ConHome recently hosted a debate on drug legalisation. It was kicked off by this pro-reform article from Bruce Anderson. The case against legalisation was then made by Christian Guy.
The comments on both threads were heavily in favour of Bruce Anderson's position.
I tested the overall view of Tory members in the latest ConservativeHome survey and these are the results:
- The war on ALL drugs is lost and we should decriminalise ALL drugs and treat them as we treat alcohol: 20%
- The war on SOFT drugs is lost and we should decriminalise SOFT drugs and treat them as we treat alcohol: 19%
- Drugs policy should carry on as it is but we should invest more in drug treatment programmes: 15%
- We need a proper war on drugs where people caught using drugs have to choose treatment or prison: 46%
My big conclusions are that (i) support for the status quo is very limited (option 3) but that, on balance, Tory members would prefer a change to a tougher rather than a more liberal view; (ii) support for some form of decriminalisation is nonetheless substantial; and (iii) the comment threads which were very pro-decriminalisation failed to reflect the more hardline views of party members.
Blog threads not being representative was a point I recently made in the context of support for David Cameron.
1,340 Tory members all polled on Wednesday 30th November.
Comments