There's no way that some pills and vials and tracking will cost more than an entire drug war. If free is too expensive, just make it cheaper than the street. A

There's no way that some pills and vials and tracking will cost more than an entire drug war. If free is too expensive, just make it cheaper than the street. And I don't think that the users have to want much. They are addicted, addiction is expensive, enter a free alternative that they will have to accept eventually when their drug dealers can't make ends meet and quit the game. The taper comes after the drug dealers have all found something else to do. Give it some time for all their drug routes and contacts to go cold. And be prepared to ramp supply back up if they come back. It will be a multi-round game, but it's one that the drug dealers just can't win, for simple economic reasons.