Earlier this week the Dorset Echo reported from a meeting with a talk given by ex-detective sergeant Neil Woods. Mr Woods spoke about the war on drugs - and why he thinks traditional methods of fighting that war, such as criminalising the use of drugs, may not be the answer. Here's what our readers thought...

  • Yes. Legalise asap. What the Police are currently doing does not work...to keep doing what does not work is insanity. Tollicke
  • Agree completely. Not a fan of drug taking, personally, but what he says make sense. Legalise, regulate, tax, treat. Mjollnir
  • I'm happy for legalization so long as it's handled properly. I'd much rather see registered dispensaries, ID at the door, which are limited and easy to monitor. Then again personally I feel that model should also apply to alcohol and tobacco. OhHolyPretender
  • Detective Sargent Woods spoke with experience of the failure of the USA style prohibition policy in the UK. He knows, he's tried. More policing led to worse crime as local dealers are replaced by hardened violent gangs from cities. He said we should go back to the British approach. Dr Jon Orrell
  • Will legalising drugs stop organised crime or will it just switch to other forms of crime. Would a drug dealer who obtains considerable wealth from the illegal drugs trade give it all up and get a job stacking shelves in a supermarket. Tarka
  • Zero tolerance. Time the police started actually enforcing the existing laws. No justification for legalisation when the basic problem is lack of enforcement - let's try that first. StrangebuTrue
  • As the article above indicates, your suggestion as already been tried, and done to death. Insanity can be said to be doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. gaillie