And that's precisely my argument. If you make the acquisition and distribution of current class A substances a legal agreement, perhaps prescribed in the NHS at point of need, then the associated, long established crime is negated, if not overnight, but essentially in the short term.ossie wrote: ↑3 Nov 2022, 6:03pmDingdong wrote: ↑3 Nov 2022, 3:27pm
It's not that difficult (given the sheer variety of new laws enacted in the last ten years) to find yourself in the criminal justice system, for the slightest of misdemeanors. Most of these, I find are alcohol, not drug related. When, for instance did you last see a violent heroin addict? They do tend to be on the whole, fairly well sedated. You could argue, from statistical analysis that alcoholics do much more harm to society than any committed, long term heroin/methadone/cocaine user.
I've been supportive of much of the stuff you've posted on the subject but having ran a drug / acquisitive crime squad for many years I'm just going to offer up the below reference heroin use. If 29 million people drink, naturally more will find themselves in the system percentage wise but the figures in relation to heroin / crack use are still quite staggering considering the numbers. Most of the criminals we dealt with (acquisitive crime) had a drug rather than alcohol addition.
There are more than 300,000 heroin and crack addicts in England who, between them, are responsible for nearly half of all burglaries, robberies and other acquisitive crime.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... save-lives
Criminals will have to find other sources of easy income, which may not be that simple. With the introduction of Disability Living Allowance in England and Wales with the last labour government, recorded crime was reduced a staggering 45% in only two years.
If there is no longer a lucrative illegal drug trade in the UK, then those currently involved in it will either have to find legitimate employment, social welfare scams (the most likely outcome) or another illegal source of income.
Win win imho.