Another voice of reason

Top Scottish cop suggests 'legalising' heroin;

John Vine, Tayside's Chief Constable, is believed to be the most senior officer in Scotland to back the proposal. He said: "We need to consider things that have perhaps been unpalatable in the past, such as the prescribing of class A drugs to chaotic users.

"If we could help addicts to get a fix on the state rather than from dealers, then it's possible we could stop them housebreaking and thieving."

He admitted enforcement had failed to make a dent in the illegal drugs trade or stem the rising tide of drug-related crime, despite seizures of hard narcotics in his area tripling in the past year.

Mr Vine said as much as 75 per cent of property crime was believed to be drug-related. But he insisted enforcement could not, by itself, deal with the rising use of hard drugs.

"If we do not reduce demand [for drugs], there will always be people coming in with more to supply," he said. "I am suggesting that we could have a pilot in my area of prescribing Class A substances to chaotic users".

Mr Vine - awarded a CBE in the Queen's birthday honours list - also called for special drugs courts to be established.

He warned: "We are not going to make progress unless certain things are taken out of the 'too difficult' box."

Shooting galleries already exist in a number of countries including Australia, Canada and a number of European countries. But it seems other countries reject them mainly because of unfavourable public opinion. Public opinion is often the no.1 enemy of reason.