The Strathclyde Police Federation, with over 7,000 members, has urged that Scotland should "legalize all drugs currently covered by the Misuse of Drugs Act – everything from class A to C, including heroin, cocaine and speed." This would save the millions of pounds that are wasted on futile efforts to eliminate drugs and would allow limited police resources to be turned to more essential police duties such as combating terrorism.

"Tell me a village where they are drug-free?” said Inspector Jim Duffy, chairman of the Federation." "Despite the amount of resources and the fantastic work our girls and guys do, we are not making a difference. We don't have any control at the moment. . . . We are not winning the war against drugs and we need to think about different ways to tackle it." The Strathclyde Police Federation, representing the rank and file officers of Scotland's largest force, will propose a motion endorsing legalization for discussion at the forthcoming national conference of police officers from across Scotland.

Commenting on the Federation's statement, Danny Kushlick of the UK's Transform Drug Policy Foundation said, "For a policy that aims to eliminate drug supply and use, it has failed in spectacular style. Over the last 40 years illegal drug use has risen by at least 300%. Attempts to curtail drug supply have been equally ineffective, with drugs now cheaper and more available than ever before. Billions in taxpayer's money are being spent each year on a policy that is achieving the exact opposite of its stated aim "

While drugs of every kind have been legal throughout most of human history in every society, the Twentieth Century's failed experiments with drug prohibition are not totally unprecedented. Both Japan and the Ottoman Empire, for instance, attempted to outlaw tobacco use and failed totally despite the most extreme efforts. A dramatic rise in drug prices is the predictable result whenever widespread demand for a drug comes up against a prohibition regime. This creates hugely lucrative opportunities in the manufacture, smuggling and sale of the prohibited drug and attracts criminal entrepreneurs.

The inflated drug prices force many drug dependent persons to resort to property theft or prostitution to support their habits. This creates a link between drugs and crime that did not exist before the drugs were prohibited. Since drug dealing is a cash business and drug dealers cannot expect the police to protect their businesses from robbers or go to court to settle trade disputes, the drug trade becomes a source of violence wherever prohibition is in effect.

This is not the first instance of support for legalization coming from within law enforcement. In the United Kingdom, there has been the earlier declaration of support for legalization of all drugs from Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable of North Wales, and from Edward Ellison, who was operational head of Scotland Yard's drug task forces. Chief Superintendent Anthony Wills endorsed legalization of cannabis at the time of his retirement as borough commander of one of London's largest police commands. Even the Association of Chief Police Officers has said in a policy document that heroin and cocaine users who commit offences like burglary, theft and street crime while on the drugs, should be sent straight to treatment rather than being prosecuted.

In the United States, where the drug war is proving even more expensive and less successful, John Finklator, former Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, and Ramsey Clark, former U. S. Attorney General, both served on the Board of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the leading marijuana legalization group in the U. S.. Former Kansas City and San Jose Police Chief Joseph McNamara, retired New York City Police Commissioner Patrick Murphy, and Telluride, Colorado Sheriff Bill Masters have each spoken out against continued drug prohibition. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an organization of current and former officers, has been actively advocating legalization of all the currently illicit drugs since 2002.