CALL TO REVIEW DRUGS LEGALISATION

Legalising heroin and cocaine would bring net benefits of billions of
pounds even if usage doubled as a result, according to a drugs policy charity.

Transform, a charity founded to challenge the validity of drugs
policy, carried out what it claimed was the first thoroughgoing
analysis of the costs and benefits of prohibition compared with a
legal, controlled market. It found the policy of prohibition "is
delivering precisely the opposite of the government's stated claims".

The charity said that problems caused by drugs were on the increase
across the board: supply and availability were growing; harm to
health was rising; half of all property crime was to fund drug abuse;
the courts and prison systems were overloaded; and illicit drug
profits enriched criminals and destabilised countries.

The Home Office argues the benefits of legalisation would be
outweighed by the costs. But Transform maintains that the Home Office
has never undertaken a full assessment.

Steve Rolles, Transform's head of research, said research to fill
"substantial gaps" must be commissioned, and a full academic study
undertaken along with independent analysis by the Audit Commission.

It calculates that the combined costs of prohibition in the UK amount
to almost UKP 17bn ($24bn) a year in health, crime and other costs.
The costs of a regulated market, including prescriptions and
infrastructure costs, would be just under UKP 6bn, assuming no change in usage.

If usage fell by half, net benefits would be about UKP 14bn,
Transform said. Even if it doubled, there would be a net gain of more
than UKP 4.5bn as the costs of crime fell but health and social care
costs rose.

The comparison involves a speculative comparison of the costs and
benefits of legalisation.

Mr Rolles said: "Even by the government's own measures it is now
clear that drug enforcement is causing more harm than the drugs
themselves. There can no longer be any excuses for not carrying out a
comprehensive impact assessment to count the costs of its drugs policy."

The Home Office said: "Legalisation would risk a huge increase in
consumption with an associated cost to public health. It would not
eliminate the crime committed by organised career criminals."