One of England's top police officers has called for hard drugs to be legalised.
Durham chief constable Mike Barton claimed the war on drugs had failed and decriminalisation was the best way to wrestle power away from criminal gangs.
Writing in The Observer, the national intelligence leader for the Association of Chief Police Officers also suggested the NHS should supply class-A drugs such as heroin and cocaine to addicts.
He said: "Not all crime gangs raise income through selling drugs, but most of them do in my experience.
"So offering an alternative route of supply to users cuts off the gang's income stream.
"If an addict were able to access drugs via the NHS or some similar organisation, then they would not have to go out and buy illegal drugs.
"Drugs should be controlled. They should not, of course, be freely available.
"I think addiction to anything - drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc - is not a good thing, but outright prohibition hands revenue streams to villains."
Under Mr Barton's direction, Durham Constabulary launched Operation Sledgehammer, a sustained campaign to "get in the faces" of organised crime gangs.
He has previously claimed to seek inspiration in the way notorious Prohibition-era mafioso Al Capone was finally brought down not for bootlegging, but tax evasion.
Source: Alex Diaz, Irish Independent, 29/09/13
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