The costs of dealing with drug related harms in our city and across the UK remain incredibly high.

In recent months, the independent UK Drugs Policy Commission has highlighted that the Government spends around £3 billion a year on its drugs policy, which is often self-defeating and fails to tackle the real issues driving addiction.

Meanwhile, the Home Affairs Select Committee has warned that action is needed "now, more than ever" to consider all the alternatives to our failing drug laws – and to learn from countries that have adopted a more evidence based approach.

In this age of austerity, where the Government tells us that every penny of public spending must be accounted for, it’s incomprehensible that no one is bothering to assess whether the legislation on which our so-called “war on drugs” approach is based – the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act – is good value for money, or money and effort wasted.

That’s why I’ve created a petition on the Government’s e-petitions site today, calling on Ministers to commission an authoritative and independent cost-benefit analysis and impact assessment of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 within the next year.

This would mean comparing the effectiveness of the current drugs policy in reducing the societal, economic and health costs of drug misuse with other approaches – giving Parliament the evidence it needs to pursue a more effective policy in the future.

With support growing for an alternative approach to drugs based on treating addiction as a health issue, not a criminal one, it’s time for the Government to agree to investigate whether the so-called “war on drugs” really is the best use of public money.