Sally Davies: 'Addiction is a medical problem ... and our society is choosing to treat that as a criminal justice issue.' Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images
England's chief medical officer has said drug addiction should be seen as a medical problem, but that society chooses to treat it as a criminal justice issue.
Professor Dame Sally Davies's comments came as she told BBC Radio 3's Private Passions that she ate hash cookies at university.
Davies said of her university days in the 1970s: "I never smoked so I couldn't smoke joints but I did have some cookies, until on the third or fourth occasion I had hallucinations and I've never touched it since.
She added: "Of course it's a medical problem, I mean addiction is a medical problem, and it becomes a public health problem and then our society is choosing to treat that as a criminal justice issue."
A Department of Health spokesman said: "Drugs ruin lives and cause misery to families and communities and this government is committed to breaking the cycle of drug and alcohol dependency.
"The UK approach is to consider drug use as both a health and criminal issue and so the CMO is not saying anything new."
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http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/aug/19/drug-addiction-criminal-issue-medical-officer