Jason Reed

As a drug policy pedant, it was with great interest that I noted BBC Three's Free Speech were to address the drugs debate - the discourse had raged on Free Speech's social media and blogs for a few weeks prior to the show.

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Dear Winston Matthews,

Words simply cannot express how I felt when I learned of your incarceration. You are currently serving 16 months in prison. Your crime? The cultivation of cannabis to treat your pain. Like many, you are more than aware of the harmful legacy that pharmaceutical drugs can bestow;...

On Wedndesday 7 March, I was invited to attend the first show of BBC Three's Free Speech. This dynamic, live, new debate show was certainly of interest to me.

Aimed at the younger end of the voting demographic, I was soon pondering as to why a youth based...

Did you see the debate? A debate with a host of celebrities: Russell Brand, Sir Richard Branson; world leaders, and eminent opinion formers. Oh, and Peter Hitchens was in attendance. A debate of such magnitude would surely not creep under the radar? Especially given the gravitas of the contested subject?

I'm not a fan of rebuttals, they can often be interpreted as rude or standoffish. This is certainly not the flavour of my reply, and so with this ample disclaimer in place, I would like to politely address Mr Rupert Wolfe-Murray's first HuffPo blog; Can Cannabis Drive You...

The past week has seen Rod Liddle inflame debate in his almost non sequitur type piece. Following on, James Delingpole, in his Telegraph blog, has decided to back Mr Liddle's sentiments up. I would like to take the time to cordially respond.

With header of 'The...

It was a Thursday evening like any other. I was eating a meal and flipping through a publication that I'm not a fan of, but as it lay idle on my parents' table, I thought I'd treat myself.

It was around this time my phone and mail alerts started pinging...

Drug policy reform has received many endorsees, from Kofi Annan and Richard Branson, to a fleet of Nobel Prize winners and an array of prominent figures. Despite this, little media attention has been given to the damaging nature of current policy. There is, perhaps,...

The 'war on drugs' has failed, and cannabis possession should be decriminalised; so says yet more eminent figures. We are hard pushed to find anyone who does not agree with this sentiment, and with each passing month, the weight of evidence that points towards a new approach to...

Recently Mark Davies of the Rethink Mental Illness charity wrote a piece for HuffPost UK on cannabis and attitudes.

I'd like to give thanks and take the opportunity to respond to Mr Davies.

Firstly, it's worth mentioning how Rethink differs in its approach to similar...

On Saturday 15th October, around 4000 - 5000 people earnestly took to the streets, speaking out against corporate greed and economic equality.

The police were quick to issue sanctions against the occupation of Paternoster Square, but an unlikely sanctuary was provided by St Paul's Cathedral. The steps of...

Occupy Wall Street is heading for its third week of protests. The movement was hesitant in its first steps, but it's now picking up momentum and spreading across the U.S. From its birth in New York, the 'Occupy' premise now has a foothold; the U.K is planning

"We've been fighting a drugs war for 40 years, that war is lost, and completely unwinnable."

These were the eminent words of Mr James Duffy from Law Enforcement Against Prohibtion - LEAP. As a 32 year serving veteran and former Police Inspector, Mr Duffy...

Jacqui Smith, the serial offender, has hit the news once again. Smith's less than exemplary record is now notorious, and this latest diatribe may well be riding on the back of her ineffable past. There is one portion of her career that has not received the...

Most of us have an opinion, and many of us look higher than simple knee-jerk reactionary comments. To discuss the current situation of the UK riots rationally, you of course have to interject with the disclaimer of; "I do not condone riots but" - I'm sure no one advocates the...

On 2nd June 2011, the Guardian newspaper hosted an open letter to the Prime Minister. Drafted by the organisation Release, the letter marked the 40th anniversary of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and tried to evoke a mood of change in drugs policy. Signatories included...