Legalise drugs

The reasons are simple: 50 per cent of crime is due to drugs; 50 per cent of prisoners and prostitutes are drug addicts and "work" their trades to support the habit; the government wisely wishes to begin emptying our prisons of all but those from whom the public must be protected.

If drugs were legalised and only available through health-monitoring, self-financing, NHS drug clinics at affordable prices then crimes and drug-driven prostitution would almost vanish; the health and welfare of addicts would improve and prisons would start to empty.

Drug abuse would not increase. In fact, the contrary is the case. That's because those who push drugs and try to ensnare new users would have neither motive nor market to continue.

Tobacco consumption is falling, as will alcohol when it is taxed correctly, despite being freely available. Drugs, though, would not be freely available as the proposed clinics would not just dispense them willy-nilly.

The pluses for society and the individual in such a scheme outweigh by far any vague downside (such as criminals turning to other sources of power and revenue, as these can be dealt with by some more common sense use of the law).

It seems to me as a non-user that those who have the most to gain by not legalising drugs, as above, are the drug barons, traffickers and pushers.

Odd, then, that polite society and the law should actually enable and (effectively) encourage them, rather than renderingsuch criminalsredundant.

TIM FLINN

Garvald

East Lothian