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But what shocked me, Howard, is the enormous consumption of cocaine, as mentioned in this thread, starting with its title and the figures quoted. Hence we're talking here of cocaine not grass or ecstasy
Cocaine and heroine are both totally illegal, they are the two drugs that condition the economy of millions of people in Afghanistan, Burma, South America, and possibly elsewhere, where farmers sell it to drug cartels in return for a six-times higher income than normal crops would bring.
They are both extremely addictive, meaning that people addicted can not easily get away from them, and very expensive.
Often, when cut and mixed with other elements, they cause death, as the suppliers often try to earn more money by mixing the drug with other contents.
Also, overdose of these two drugs leads to death, and long-term use leads anyway to early death.
People on one or the other of these two drugs end up living a life of hell, and often their families too.
The costs for curing (NHS) and rehabilitaion, although important and necessary, are also high, leading to further spending.
The costs involved in Police work searching for drugs or dealing with the criminality caused by drug-consumption, are very high, and the cost on society is high, for example when young people die due to heroine/cocaine, or when houses are burgled by desparate addicted people.
These two drugs can be detected, usually by speacially trained dogs, obviously combined with personnel.
But the extra costs of this personnel, and of dogs and the training they require, which are a fraction of the above-mentioned costs caused by use of heroine and cocaine, seem to be too high, hence cuts in border controls.
So to save a few millions here and there on border controls, enormous State resources are drawn on to cure addicted people, to increase the Police burden, to drain money from people (2.5-4% of the population), or their families, so that the drugs can be purchased.
This money ends up in the drug-cartels, who use it to increase their evil circle of drug production and distribution.
So the next generation can be addicted and silently poisoned off by these evil criminals.
So what is the very small cost in extra border controls in comparison? A price well worth paying.
But I shall not go single-handed into this, there are enough people in places of authority who can bother themselves to join in, to make some concerted effort, if they feel it worthy.
One cannot just sit back and say "the money is not there, Amen". I expect more intellect than that from people in a position of authority.