I know, I know, but this is entirely sensible:
The crime that results from drug addiction is a direct result of the
drugs’ illegality. The organised criminal gangs, with their violence,
corruption and money laundering; the street gangs, with their gun
crime, stabbings and intimidation; the muggers, burglars, car thieves
and shoplifters, who steal to fund their habit; the dealers who try to
create new addicts; and finally, the prostitutes who put their health
and lives at risk; all this crime and suffering could be wiped out if
the drugs were available, free, on prescription. Some 50 to 80 per cent
of prisoners are in jail for crimes related to raising money to buy
drugs. Nearly half of women prisoners are there specifically for drug
offences and nearly three-quarters have had a drug problem. The cost to
the criminal justice system is huge. The cost to the individuals, their
families and wider society is greater still.
In European cities, where heroin is available on prescription,
property crimes by drug-users have dropped by as much as a half. And
think of the effect that widespread prescribing would have on turf
wars, gang violence, gun crime, street dealing and prostitution. An
excellent report from the Transform drug policy foundation* also points
out: “The largest single profit opportunity for organised crime would
evaporate, and with it the largest single source of police corruption.”
Transform estimates that the prison population would fall by
between a third and a half, ending overcrowding and the need to build
more jails. Billions of pounds spent enforcing prohibition and coping
with its consequences would be saved. Hundreds of thousands could be
treated as patients rather than criminals. The number of drug-related
deaths would fall dramatically. And desperate young women could be
rescued from pimps, potential rapists and murderers.
I realise that I’m rather more hardcore on this subject (that ingesting what you wish is in fact a right) than most people but doesn’t that more pragmatic argument make sense even to those who don’t agree with me?
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