In the continued debate to the war on drugs – shall we legalise them, shall we decriminilise them, kill all hippies – an article I have just seen about ‘Operation Julie’ may add more to the debate.
A group of like minded individuals had come together; David Solomon (an associate of David Leary) came to Cambridge in 1967, and eventually was introduced to Richard Kemp, a Liverpool University chemist. Other associattes joined through Cambridge connections including Leaf Fielding – a free thinking anarchist who had dropped out of school after being introduced to acid, and a supply business increasingly grew. There appeared a genuine belief that it would change the world.
‘Operation Julie’ closed down the biggest LSD suppliers in the UK after approx 18 months of survailance. “The inquiry led to raids on 87 homes, resulting in more than 100 arrests and 15 ringleaders being sentenced to a combined 120 years in jail.” It also decreased the supply of acid by 90% in the UK.Once they were all arrested the price increased and in order to fill the gap in the market, drug dealers took there place who were only interested in profit.
There will always be a market for drugs, as there will for alcohol, it’s just a question of choice. The difficulty comes when the Government decides what is right, so the underworld will always supply what is illegal.
Jason E Cooper 