Mmm, my 2p on this
initially I thought, good idea, after all we currently spend more on trying to stop drugs arriving in this country than it would cost to buy up teh whole Afgan opium crop(Which is where I believe over 95% of UK heroin comes from). Then as mentioned there is the cost of goods etc that are stolen to fund habits(including rising Insurance premiums) and also the cost of investigating/policing these crimes. We all winge that there aren't enough Police on the beat, remove the overhead of dealing with results of drug crime and we will probably be able to have a copper on every street corner. Then there is the matter of injuries/deaths caused during muggings etc by drug addicts looking to fund their next fix. Try telling a grieving widow that her husband died because we aren't prepared to give addicts their fix for free.
There has long been calls to legalise and monitor prostitution, the advantages are always mentioned of cleaning up the industry, protecting the girls/boys from violence/slavery, taxing the income(
) but the whole focus seems to be on making it a safer environment for all parties, By setting up safe environments for drug use would it encourage new users? I doubt it. I'm sure some people start using drugs because of the 'look at me I'm a rebel' rather than any actual desire to become a junkie, its just that they get caught up in teh chemical dependancy. Legalising it removes that appeal. As for pushers looking for new trade, I don't think that would happen, people are either going to do it or they aren't. even if ther was a small increase initially the supply(non users who may be tempted) is not inexhaustable and like a pyramid scam,would soon run out.
However on the flip side it does seem a strange way of dealing with the problem. making it freeley available alongside free extensive rehabilitation may be an answer. Difficult one to choose really but I think the pro's outweigh the cons to me, I'm a yes