We are all already paying a high price for street drugs. The addicts are not paying out of their pockets, but instead are stealing things and extracting a fract

We are all already paying a high price for street drugs. The addicts are not paying out of their pockets, but instead are stealing things and extracting a fraction of the value. Then we pay for emergency medical care when the street drugs have terrible quality. Pharmaceutical quality opioids and amphetamines are definitely cheaper when you factor in the externalities of street drugs. The low price also allows lower consumption, counterintuitively. Taper the supply, and if the dealers return, increase supply until they are out of business. Hard to be an addict when the government tapers you and drives the street dealers out of business if they try to supply again.