Meeting for Sufferings: Drugs, compassion and concern
Friends at Meeting for Sufferings considered a concern about the decriminalistion of drugs
The Large Meeting Room at Friends House in London hosted a well-attended Meeting for Sufferings on Saturday 3 December with some challenging subjects on the agenda.
Young Friends, who were taking part in a youth participation day at Friends House, joined Sufferings for opening workshop and at the conclusion of the day.
Sufferings gave a significant amount of time in the morning session to discernment on a minute from Cornwall Area Meeting on the topic of ‘the decriminalisation of the possession of drugs for personal use’.
Tony Faragher, of Cornwall Area Meeting, spoke to the concern. He stressed that someone caught with drugs might avoid a prison sentence but could have a criminal record for the rest of his or her life. He explained his personal background in the field and then referred to the development of the concern among Friends in Cornwall.
Ethel Livermore, clerk of Meeting for Sufferings, was attending her final Sufferings in the role and – as ever highly efficient, clear and considerate – explained that Friends were asked to test the concern and not to make a decision to adopt it. The question was whether Sufferings could recommend that Friends in Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) continue to ‘test and discern a way forward’.
Friends attending Sufferings were given a huge appendix that contained the deliberations of Area Meetings on the subject. These showed that Friends in every corner of Britain had given an enormous amount of time to thoughtful discernment. While some Area Meetings were supportive of the minute, many felt unable to take a clear position.
A Friend, who had taken part in discussions at her Meeting, expressed a widely held position. She explained that ‘while they were broadly in support of decriminalisation’ there was a ‘real concern about the level of support given to drug users’ and ‘Friends needed more information on the issues’ before they could gather together to support a firm proposal.
A number of Friends contributed anecdotes from their own personal experience. They spoke of friends and family who had been affected and expressed their concern that a criminal record, given because of a ‘drugs offence’, would adversely influence a life.
A Friend shared a moving memory. It was when he shared an office with a woman who had a son. He was a drug addict. He had been one for ten years. He spoke of her talking around and around the subject – of ‘talking in circles’ because of the difficulty of finding a solution.
Her son, one day, disappeared, and, a few years later she learned that he was dead. The Friend said that Quakers should not find themselves ‘talking in circles’.
A Friend who was a drugs and alcohol worker spoke of how his Area Meeting was divided and could not find unity on the minute. Another Friend felt the minute from Cornwall Area Meeting dealt with a specific aspect of a broad subject. He believed there was a wider picture to consider. The work of Quaker Action on Alcohol and Drugs (QAAD), for example, should be taken into account. Its approach was to place the concern in a broader context.
It was clear, another Friend said, that Quakers across Britain had ‘engaged very deeply’ with the question but he expressed a concern that Friends ‘appear to have different approaches – one in Cornwall and the other the approach recommended by QAAD.’
He hoped that it would not be a question of picking one approach or the other – but that there would be cooperation between Friends in Cornwall, along with those in Britain who supported the concern and QAAD.
A Friend said that she did not feel that being ‘caught in possession of an illegal drug’ should warrant a ‘criminal record’. This could ‘crush the soul and spirit’ of a young person.
A Friend reported that his Area Meeting could not reach a conclusive statement. He said ‘there is a lot of work to do’ and ‘I do not think we are ready’.
Another Friend highlighted the overlap with criminal justice and the session in the afternoon on a ‘Vision for a criminal justice system.’ The decriminalisation of the possession of drugs for personal use could not be treated in isolation.
The limitations on staff and resources at QAAD were highlighted and a plea made for ‘more time to understand the subject’ before a decision could be made on behalf of all Quakers in Britain.
The question of whether the concern was a ‘social’ or a ‘religious’ one was raised. A Friend stressed that Quakers in Cornwall, and indeed QAAD, did not speak for all of Britain Yearly Meeting. Friends were seeking a humane and compassionate response to a very complex concern.
It was clear that Friends were not ready to accept the minute as a concern for the whole of Britain Yearly Meeting but that there was general support for the concern of Friends in Cornwall. Further work – by Friends in Cornwall Area Meeting, together with Area Meetings in Britain that had shown support, and QAAD – would be required to take it forward. It was hoped this would be done.
A minute to this effect was drafted by the clerk.
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