Why the ‘War on Drugs’ Failed —An Inside Story.
By Thomas Giblin (he/him) CULTURE & LIFESTYLE WRITER
Fifty years ago President Nixon called for an "all-out offensive" against drugs and addiction—this ‘war’, a staggering policy failure, has led to decades of death and violence. Now as the conversation around drug law reform grows, two former drug traffickers and a drug policy expert provide us with the case for legalisation. "Do you live with the regret—the guilt that you've taken part in this trade?" "No. I did what I did." Pieter Tritton, now in his 40s, works as a painter and decorator - he's managed to clean most of the paint off his hands. We make small talk before the interview begins. "So my name's Pieter Tritton, otherwise known as 'Posh Pete', which is a nickname I absolutely hate, to be honest. I'm known for being an ex-cocaine trafficker." I spoke to Tritton via Zoom; his friendly demeanour and knitted jumper didn’t give off the impression of an ex-drug trafficker. Instead, he could be a neighbour or a colleague. Tritton speaks so calmly of his trade and, despite his PTSD, the unimaginable horrors he witnessed are recounted with pained earnestness. He describes impregnating cocaine into rubber with such nonchalance that at times our conversation seemed as normal as if we were discussing the weather. "They would put the cocaine into the solution, mix it with liquid latex, let that set in very thin layers and then open the groundsheet of a tent and stick these sheets of latex onto the groundsheet of the tent." The blossoming rave scene of late 80s and early 90s Britain was a springboard for Tritton—the free parties he and his friends attended were full of drugs. Throughout his school years, he was “selling drugs every weekend.” But one morning he woke to a knock on the door and was arrested. Not wanting to jeopardise pursuing his lifelong passion and studying archaeology at university, Tritton stopped dealing.
When Tritton arrived at Cardiff University, he identified a gap in the market—thousands of students new to the city, and none of them knew where to find drugs. "Trying to survive as a student is pretty difficult.” So, in order to pay his bills and support his mother, Tritton "stupidly decided to start dealing drugs again.” One bad decision and it snowballed from here. He went from being a local drug dealer to trafficking cocaine from South America. "The selling of drugs was more addictive than the taking of drugs" is a phrase Tritton uses. As an adrenaline junkie, it was the thrill of picking up drugs, the cat-and-mouse game with the police and role-playing as a 'gangster' which got Tritton hooked. Even though he’s gone straight, this still provides a lingering temptation. But, as he points out, he'd receive a life sentence if he was caught dealing drugs again. "My dad's getting old now, he's had a stroke. I don't want to put my family through any more fucking grief and stress." Now living an ordinary life, Tritton had spent nearly half his life behind bars. In 2005, he was caught in an Ecuadorian hotel room with 8 kilograms of cocaine and sentenced to 12 years. Tritton "went through hell" during his decade in the notorious Litoral Penitentiary of Guayaquil, Ecuador. With gang violence being a regular occurrence, he witnessed death “any which way you can think of.” To survive, Tritton realised that it all was about money and if he could be “of some potential to them (the gangs), then it would give them some reason to keep me safe.” He survived a decade in Ecuador, and upon his repatriation to Wandsworth Prison, Tritton experienced a sense of culture-shock. Despite returning home, society had moved on so fast and Tritton had been left behind. The whole of society had changed—the Internet had blown up, pubs had shut down and people weren't going out drinking on a Friday night. Now that Tritton has acclimatised and life has returned to ‘normal’, he works as a public speaker on the dangers of drugs alongside painting and decorating. 21