Richard Branson has made an official submission to Malcolm Turnbull’s National Ice Task Force, urging Australia to decriminalise drugs.

Branson, who has been a longtime critic of the ‘war on drugs’, has been known to lobby governments against over-policing drug crimes, instead championing a harm reduction focus.

In his submission, acquired by Fairfax, Branson wrote “Drug use should be treated as a health issue, not as a crime.

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“While the vast majority of recreational drug users never experience any problems, people who struggle with drug addiction deserve access to treatment, not a prison cell.”

Branson said decriminalising drugs would help drug users stop fearing “arrest and punishment when accessing healthcare services.”

Last month, Branson claimed on his blog the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was planning on publicly endorsing the decriminalisation of drugs.

In the blog post, Branson claimed UNODC had been spooked by world governments at the last minute, and was potentially going to shelve the document.

However, UNODC said in a statement the document could not be read as policy and there had been an “unfortunate misunderstanding” on Branson’s side.

Australia’s task force delivered its final report last week, pledging $300 million to the drug-treatment sector, signalling a shift from policing to prevention.