Following on from a spate of headlines over legal highs such as Benzo Fury and mephedrone, the APPG on Drug Policy Reform earlier this year called for a more liberal regulatory approach to such new designer drugs. Meanwhile, Brighton council announced that it would be exploring the possible use of ‘drug rooms’ and other soft-touch policies to tackle the social problems associated with more traditional drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Yet with the government affirming its commitment to criminalisation, drugs policy reform again seems stalled in a stand-off between politicians and expert advice. Does the notorious difficulty involved in policing the supply of legal highs call into question our entire approach to regulating the use of recreational drugs? Is it time to accept that a prohibitionist approach to drug use has failed and, if so, what should replace it? Should drug policy be a matter of scientific and medical expertise, or does that undermine the significance of the political and moral issues at stake? Given the already widespread use of illicit substances, would decriminalisation or legalisation lead to a significant increase in consumption?