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The question of whether drugs should be legalised is always an incendiary one. It tends to polarise debate, with zero-tolerance hardliners on one side and liberal-minded leftists on the other. However, one aspect of the debate that is often ignored is the potential any moves to legalise drugs such as cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine might have for product liability claims.
Every year drug users develop a number of health problems associated with the drugs they use. Whether it be cannabis, which causes a number of lung conditions and has possible links with mental illness, or ecstasy, which can cause an adverse reaction in certain users, there is always the possibility that something might go wrong with drugs.
Obviously, prohibition of drugs just drives both users and manufacturers underground, ensuring that there are no strict controls or regulations on either the drugs being sold or the users themselves. Inevitably, this means that the quality and composition of drugs is variable, placing users at risk, without any recourse to product liability claims.
The prohibition of alcohol in 1920s and 1930s USA should be seen as a case in point. During that period, it was not uncommon for bootleg alcohol to result in poisoning and, because of prohibition, none of those affected had recourse to the representation of personal injury solicitors. In addition, criminal bootlegging gangs prospered and, with money from illegal alcohol sales, were able to fund further damaging criminal activity.
The money involved in illegal drugs in the UK is staggering. The UK Drugs Policy Commission believe that the trade is worth some £5.3 billion each year - all money that filters into the pockets of criminal gangs. And, considering we spend around £4 billion of taxpayer's money each year fighting an ultimately fruitless war on drugs, the arguments for legalisation can seem compelling.
Even the police have lent their support to legalisation moves. Just last year, the North Wales Police Authority invited controversy when they backed a report calling for the legalisation of most drugs, including heroin.
However, what is clear is that if legalisation were to be effected, users would not be able to make product liability claims for the adverse health effects of the drugs themselves.
Just as smokers have failed trying to obtain personal injury compensation from tobacco companies, so too would drug users be unable to claim for the routine damage of drugs.
One imagines that it would be only when the drugs fail to meet their description - perhaps if they were contaminated or contained too much of their psychoactive substance would a compensation claim become feasible. It is likely that the rights of drug users would be roughly on a par with those currently enjoyed by alcohol drinkers. While some may see this as a potential benefit of legalisation, it is equally likely that countless others would not countenance the idea of drug users being able to claim any compensation at all.
Personally, I don't know what to make of the debate, so will sit on the fence thanking my lucky stars that I am neither a policeman nor a policymaker.
