A top police officer has said class A drugs such as cocaine and heroin should be legalised.
Durham chief constable Mike Barton argues the best way to tackle the problem of drugs, and criminal gangs who control them, would be to decriminalise the hard substances.
'Not all crime gangs raise income through selling drugs, but most of them do in my experience,' he writes in The Observer.
'So offering an alternative route of supply to users cuts off the gang's income stream.'
The national intelligence leader for the Association of Chief Police Officers said if an addict was able to get his fix from the NHS they would not be forced to buy 'illegal drugs'.
He added this supply method would also avoid the spread of HIV and hepatitis C among needle users.
Despite wanting a change to the drug laws, Chf Const Barton said he didn't want them to be freely available and the substances should be controlled.
He added: '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.'
The police chief has focused on fighting criminal gangs in recent years and launched Operation Sledgehammer, which targeted them, in his Durham Constabulary.
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