https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... s-50036173
It costs just under £40,000 per year to put someone in prison for a year. It costs £4,000 to medicate a heroin addict, with heroin.The SNP has backed decriminalising the possession and consumption of drugs.
At its conference in Aberdeen, a resolution was unanimously passed by delegates branding current drug control legislation "not fit for purpose".
And they called for powers to be devolved to Holyrood to enable the "decriminalisation of possession and consumption of controlled drugs".
The Scottish government has set up a taskforce to tackle drug deaths, which hit a record high in 2018.
The criminal network underpinning it generates billions of pounds, misery and death.
Re-categorising drug addicts as a public health issue, providing fix rooms and essentially free drugs on the heath service work, I've seen this scheme introduced and it reduced street drug use by over 90%.
This isn't about the legal sale of drugs or making the supply of them legal it's about moving addiction from a criminal justice matter to a public health one.
Even if people stay addicted for life having them inside the system on free drugs will be cheaper and safer for everyone.