Dr Christian Jessen: Evidently the drug laws don't work

The theory was that drug use and addiction should be a medical not a legal issue. The policy now is that possession of small amounts of any drug is not a criminal offence. Individuals found in possession can be put before a panel which decides on appropriate treatment. That individual is free to refuse treatment and a jail sentence is not an option. Drug trafficking is still illegal and punishable by jail, however.

To me this is a triumph of common sense over the usual kneejerk myth-based reaction to drugs. Unsurprisingly it has been an overwhelming success, with deaths from overdoses and new cases of HIV plummeting. After years of steadily increasing drug use among the young, this has now fallen significantly. Offering treatment instead of prison sentences has saved a huge amount of money - studies by the World Health Organisation and others have concluded that the change in policy has brought about this turnaround.

Following Portugal's success there was a call to do the same here in the UK. High-profile celebrities, lawyers, academics, artists and politicians all signed an open letter to David Cameron calling for a "swift and transparent" review of the effectiveness of current drugs policies. The Home Office reaction? "The Government does not believe that decriminalisation is the right approach. Our priorities are clear; we want to reduce drug use, crack down on drug-related crime and disorder and help addicts come off drugs for good." Yes, except it's not working, is it?

The latest reaction is that the Government is now proposing an automatic blanket ban on all legal highs. More than 40 new legal highs have been identified in the past two years and I would argue that the current policy on drugs is responsible for this.

I have always been a staunch advocate of evidence-based practice, but disappointingly the Government's response of introducing temporary bans on each new substance as it emerges before detailed tests are done to determine the level of harm of the substance flies in the face of the evidence-based approach and shows a worrying lack of understanding of how the drug market functions.

Controlling drugs through drugs laws doesn't do anything to prevent harms that might emerge. A good example is mephedrone, which although banned last year remains as popular as cocaine among teenagers and young adults.

What is needed is proper research leading to sensible advice so that those people who chose to use these substances (and history has shown that such use is inevitable) can make informed choices and be properly advised on how to take these drugs in the safest possible way.

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