Sir Richard Branson calls for an end to war on drugs

THE use of drugs should be treated as a public health problem and not a crime, Sir Richard Branson has said.The tycoon called for an end to the war on drugs, telling MPs it had failed.

Sir Richard said the failure was caused by “trying to deal with it as a criminal problem, rather than a health problem”, he said.

He was among the first to give evidence as the Commons home affairs select committee launched the first parliamentary inquiry into drugs policy for more than ten years.

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The previous inquiry in 2002, when David Cameron was on the committee, said drug use was a “passing phase” for many young people that “rarely results in any long-term harm”.

The cross-party group dismissed legalisation and decriminalisation as a way forward.

Asked about his own admission that he had used cannabis, Sir Richard said: “I would say 50 per cent of my generation had smoked cannabis. I would say 75 per cent of my children’s generation had smoked cannabis.”