"Should drugs be legalised? Of course, and as soon as possible"

The Guardian has got together a bunch of 'leading voices' to assert their views on drugs and the law. Here's Philip Pullman talking sense:

"Should drugs be legalised? Of course, and as soon as possible. Every human society we know about has used drugs to dull pain, to bring about sleep, to prolong wakefulness, to increase physical endurance, to induce hallucinations, or just to feel better and promote good fellowship. The war on drugs, so-called, is a policy of utter and unforgivable folly; you might as well make war on human nature.

Legalising drugs would have three huge and immediate benefits: it would cut the link between drugs and crime, and empty the prisons; it would ensure that supplies were pure and reliable and not cut with chalk or worse; and it would provide a vast new source of tax for the Treasury. No one was a bigger fan of Prohibition than Al Capone."