This post is about how I love the UK government. Parts anyhow. I’m sure there are all sorts of horrible things going on in the corridors of power like anyplace else, but let’s just focus on their drugs policy for right now. First off, they create really fantastic drug-awareness sites for teens and young adults. Check out Talk to Frank for example. It’s basicaly the same kind of “here’s the effects that different drugs are going to have on you” info that the US hands out to high-school and college kids, but the way it’s presented is just brilliant. Instead of the implied “smoke pot one time and you will die of brain cancer” type of message conveyed by the US materials, the attitude here is more one of “look we know you’re going to try this, so just be informed and be smart about it, OK?” Next up, check out this study commisioned by a government-sponsored think tank in the UK, on the societal implications of non-addictive, long-term drug use. I mean, it’s obviously already happening (Prozac, Ritalin, Viagra, not to mention the illegals), but the idea of a study designed to help understand and guide future policy decisions about this kind of thing seems so far beyond the imagination of the US government that it almost hurts my brain to think about. Or maybe it’s just that I think about this kind of thing too much. But I can’t help it; I just love it when science outpaces morality, don’t you?