In article , pah@invalid.invalid (Paul Hyett)
wrote:

> *From:* Paul Hyett <pah@invalid.invalid>
> *Date:* Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:05:56 GMT
> 
> On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 at 19:18:10, peterwn  
> wrote in uk.legal :
> >>
> >> Crime expert: Using drugs a human right
> >>
> >> By Cormac O_Keeffe
> >>
> >> DRUGS should be legalised because there is a _human right_ to use
> >> them, according to a new book by an Irish criminal law expert.
> >>
> >
> >Human 'right' - at the expense of the long suffering taxpayer for
> >health and welfare bills.
> 
> There's an argument that, if they were legalised, the tax revenue 
> generated by them would more than outweigh the costs you hint at 
> above, especially when you factor in the savings involved from 
> ending the war on drugs.
> -- 
It is  (just about) an argument, it has little or no validity. Taxes and regulation
on legal supply encourage illegal supply where there is demand and would mean an
enforcement and control regime to protect legal traders. Easy answers -there are
none.
> Paul Hyett, Cheltenham
>