Russell Howard says it’s time to ‘legalise drugs’

Russell Howard has weighed in on the drugs debate and suggested legalising substances in the UK could solve a lot of problems.

The comedian made his argument during a recent episode of The Russell Howard Hour, which you can watch a clip of below:

There's long been a strong case for the decriminalisation of drugs, from boosting the economy to making use safer through regulation.

Providing a real life example, Portugal - which legalised all drugs in 2001 - has experienced dramatic reductions in overdoses, HIV infection and drug-related crimes.

What's more, studies have shown that stricter penalties in drug laws do not reduce consumption - in fact, they increase aggression on the market.

Despite the plethora of evidence demonstrating the benefits of legalising drugs, the UK is still miles away from easing policies on marijuana, let alone other substances.

Clearly Howard wants this to change, as shown in his recent segment, which starts off with him talking about the £55 billion black hole in the UK economy which is set to be filled with spending cuts and tax hikes.

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As said by the comedian, if we decriminalised drugs, 'the country could benefit to the tune of nearly £20 billion every year'.

"Britain gets rich, crime goes down," he adds, before joking; "The only problem: King Charles will have to hide because if you're high, you're definitely going to try and eat his fingers."

Howard went on to highlight the hypocrisy of politicians' war on drugs when traces of cocaine were reportedly found at a number of locations within the Houses of Parliament.

"The government's drug policies don't work," he continues. "Drug deaths in Britain have gone up year on year for over a decade."

In addition to Portugal, other countries that have had good outcomes by relaxing their drug laws include Switzerland, Czech Republic, Uruguay, Canada, Mexico and the Netherlands.

"Our government should be following these countries and their laws," he says.

"But instead, we've still got the Psychoactive Substances Act of 2016 which was meant to crack down on legal highs but ended up restricting the sales of all sorts of weird s**t including whipped cream and toads...

"We're throwing taxpayers money away on this s**t and, frustratingly, some class As are relative relatively harmless."

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Howard points to studies that show magic mushrooms are the safest recreational drug, while legal ones such as tobacco and booze often lead to cancer and liver failure.

Furthermore, an increasing amount of research is coming out showing the psychedelic component of shrooms is a powerful treatment for people suffering from depression.

Howard finishes his argument by saying: "One of the biggest advantages - never mind the money - we could stop treating addicts as criminals and instead treat them as people who need help.

"It makes so much sense."