• For the reasons outlined above, legal regulation would inflict the worst possible damage to organised crime.
• Although it is a problematic relationship to measure, studies suggest that a significant amount of acquisitive and violent crime is attributable to drug addiction. For example, the Drug Use Monitoring program in Australia found that 25% of recent offenders who reported recently using illicit drugs had committed their offence specifically to fund their habit.
• After Switzerland began prescribing medical heroin to registered dependent users, burglary rates astonishingly fell by half. Legal regulation can reduce crime across the board.
• Some former law enforcement officials have argued that tougher policing, in fact, leads to an escalation of violence, as drug gangs react and adapt to increasing pressure.
• By legalising drugs, we can damage criminal networks, reduce acquisitive and violent crime, and redirect enforcement spending to more useful and practical ends.
• Ultimately, we need sensible policies that reduce the harms done to society – not meaningless posturing and self-defeating moral panic.