The most successful politician in the British Isles? Ex-GP won assisted dying battle - now he wants to legalise cannabis
Dr Alex Allinson helped pass the assisted dying bill on the Isle of Man - and now he wants to legalise cannabis.
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Dr Alex Allinson, 59, was a GP before becoming a politician on the Isle of Man.
He's worked to decriminalise abortion and pass the assisted dying bill in the House of Keys on the self governing, crown dependency.
Dr Allinson told LBC on Saturday that he now wants to decriminalise cannabis.
"As a doctor, I've seen the harms of drugs, but also the harms of criminalisation," he said.
"Prohibition does not work."
He told Matthew Wright that in a well-regulated marketplace, cannabis could be used with minimal harm.
"What we're talking about here is harm reduction, but also making absolutely certain that people know what they're taking and trying to get round some of the significant drug deaths and drugs harms we're seeing throughout the British Isles, particularly when people start shifting from cannabis onto more harmful drugs like opiates."
The Isle of Man already licenses the production of cannabis for export use and citizens can access medical cannabis on prescription, privately in line with the uk.
"I'd like to think that all of us are working in the best way for the people of our island and internationally to drive our economy forward and look after people," he said.
"You've got to relate to what actually touches people from day to day."
He added: "We've got that ability to affect change in a relatively small island for 85,000 people."
He continued: "The next step is to have that national debate about the way that particularly some of our young people are being criminalised for using recreational cannabis and how we can reduce the harm that may cause, particularly to developing brains.
"But at the same time making changes in a responsible, adult way, which recognises that the war on drugs which has been going on for decades has not helped people.
"It's actually driven organised crime and actually bankrupt many states in the world."
Dr Allinson moved from central London to the Isle of man in 2001.
He noted that "The Isle of Man had been late to have progressive reform", referencing the island only legalised homosexuality in 1992.
"When I moved over as a GP, I found that abortion wasn't legal legal on the island and we'd have to ship people over to private clinics in Liverpool and they'd have to pay for it. And it was that realisation that led me to go into politics."
In March, the Isle of Man passed a bill legalising assisted dying - the final parliamentary obstacle before receiving royal assent.
It's the first parliament in the British Isles to take this step.
Adults with a prognosis of 12 months or less to live would be given the right to choose to die, under the provisions in the Assisted Dying Bill 2023.
According to Dr Allinson, who introduced the private member's bill in 2022, the legislation will provide terminally ill individuals with "autonomy and choice" at the end of their lives.
With the upper chamber of parliament voting in favor of the proposed legislation, the bill will now proceed to royal assent, after which it will be officially enacted.
The Isle of Man is a self governing, crown dependency.
It has 24 elected members of the House of Keys, which is the equivalent House of Commons.
It has a Labour Party, a Liberal Party, both for the Isle of Man, not affiliated with the British equivalent, and a Green Party.
21 out of the 24 members are independent.