A FORMER Keighley man who battled with addiction is backing calls for the decriminalisation of drug use.

Liam Knights welcomed the publication of a UK-wide report arguing that personal possession and use of illegal drugs should no longer be considered a criminal offence.

Liam, who while taking drugs stole more than £20,000 from the Keighley bingo hall where he worked, claims addiction should be treated as an illness rather than a crime.

He spoke after the Royal Society for Public Health and the Faculty for Public Health this month published the report Taking A New Line On Drugs.

The report, which has received backing from several charities and law enforcement officials, supports criminal charges for people who deal drugs, but suggest users should instead be referred for treatment and help.

It calls for evidence-based drugs education for young people in schools.

And it argues that criminalising users leads to long-term harm, such as greater exposure to drugs in prison, severe harm to family relationships, and exclusion from education and employment.

Former Oakbank School student, Liam, with drug addiction for five years as his life spiralled out of control.

While homeless, he stole the bingo hall money and fled to Amsterdam, before turning himself in and being sent to prison.

Once released he again slept rough, until Bradford’s Inn Churches group took him under its wing. He found work as a builder, and now, after completing his first year of degree studies at Leeds University, is on a 12-week relief mission in Ghana.

Liam said many people did not choose to continue taking drugs, and treating them as criminals is not beneficial to anybody.

He added: “If the police catch somebody with drugs and confiscate them, it doesn’t mean they will just go without drugs that day – they will just go and buy more, and if they don’t have the money for it, then they are likely to commit a crime in order to fund it.

“Either way, it just means more money to the supplier because they’ve ended up selling twice as much as they would have.”

Liam believes decriminalising personal possession would free up resources and cut costs, allowing the police to pursue the suppliers and enable those who are addicted to receive the treatment they need without fear of being prosecuted.

He said: “It is hard to go for help sometimes and to be open and honest about your problems when you know you are at risk of being prosecuted.”