LONDON, April 7 Having wasted billions in futile attempts to curb poppy cultivation in the East and discourage the use of heroin in the West, the consuming countries are now seriously looking at the option of legalising drug trade, with one latest report concluding that this route could save Britain alone at least approximately $25 billion.

The report making a comprehensive comparison between the cost-effectiveness of legislation and prohibition published on Tuesday suggests that a legalised, regulated market could save the consuming countries billions.

The report commissioned by the drugs reform charity, Transform, examines all aspects of prohibition from the costs of policing and investigating drugs users and dealers to processing them through the courts and their eventual incarceration.

However, there are also the potential costs of increased drug treatment, education and public information campaigns about the risks and dangers of drugs, similar to those for tobacco and alcohol, and the costs of running a regulated system.

The report looked at four potential scenarios, ranging from no increase in drugs use to a 100 per cent rise as they become more readily available.

“The conclusion is that regulating the drugs market is a dramatically more cost-effective policy than prohibition and that moving from prohibition to regulated drugs markets in England and Wales would provide a net saving to taxpayers, victims of crime, communities, the criminal justice system and drug users of somewhere within the range of, for the four scenarios, approximately $25billion, $15billion, $10billion, $7billion.”

Titled Comparison of the cost-effectiveness of the prohibition and regulation of drugs, the report uses government figures on the costs of crime to assess the potential benefits and disadvantages of change. The document, co-written by Steve Rolles, head of research at Transform, uses home office and No 10 strategy unit reports to form its conclusions.

It finds “The government specifically claims the benefits of any move away from prohibition towards legal regulation would be outweighed by the costs. No such cost-benefit analysis or even a proper assessment of existing enforcement policy and legislation has ever been carried out here or anywhere else in the world.”

Taxing drugs would also provide big revenue gains, says the survey. An Independent Drug Monitoring Unit estimate suggests up to £1.3 billion could be generated by a £1 per gram tax on cannabis resin and £2 per gram on skunk. The report follows calls for legalisation or a full debate on reform. Last month, the Economist concluded “Prohibition has failed; legalisation is the least bad solution.”