That thought did occur to me too, aye. But I counterbalance that with the statistic that is generally touted that ninety percent of the crime in this country is drug related and carried out by ten percent of the criminal population.
I think maybe not only are we looking at this through eyes that were born in different countries but also by eyes that are influenced by our different professions. I know that you have to directly deal with the consequences of the drug trade in your line of work and I would not dream of gainsaying your experience. It is just that equally the fellow putting this forwards is a rather senior police officer in his own right, just one in Britain where, altho' the trade is rife, the sheer volume of drug related deaths through violence to each other is lesser. The drug related crime here is more theft and burglary by addicts to fund the habit.
So if by making it non-criminal and making access easier but controlled for addicts, the crime they commit will lessen and that will outweigh the increase in crime from former drug traffickers seeking to maintain their income, for there are a lot fewer dealers than there are users.
