“It creates anxiety, stress and alienation that contribute to the high levels of mental health harm experienced across our black communities,” he wrote in the BMJ, as he appealed for doctors to speak out on the issue.
“For decades, politicians from all sides have either turned a blind eye to drug policy failures or weaponised the debate to score cheap political points,” he said. “This has led to half a century of stagnation, which has landed with force on our black communities, driving up needless criminalisation and undermining relationships with the police.”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/sep/29/uk-drug-laws-used-as-tool-of-systemic-racism-says-ex-no-10-adviser - Read in full at 'The Guardian'
Photo & Text - “Courtesy of Guardian News & Media Ltd”.
https://www.bmj.com/content/374/bmj.n2147 - The British Medical Journal