The NHS as it is has a schedule of payment for prescription drugs that is applied for everything - including heroin - if prescribed, to ensure they are availabl

The NHS as it is has a schedule of payment for prescription drugs that is applied for everything - including heroin - if prescribed, to ensure they are available to everyone that needs them. If you're below certain income threshold you get it all for free. Above that you pay fixed fees. Currently that is ca $12 for a single prescription (irrespective of amount prescribed, which is typically regulated), ca $40 for unlimited prescriptions for 3 months, ca. $143 for unlimited prescriptions for 12 months. So if you were to follow the same schedule as normal, in the UK that'd mean $0 or $143 per year. But the argument for making it available potentially for free to addicts irrespective of income thresholds especially for the most serious drugs is ensuring there's no barrier to a stable, secure supply triggering the very behaviors you want to prevent. A heroin addict is not going to be able to hold down a job if they find themselves unable to afford their next dose because they have a serious addiction that will compulsively drive them to try every desperate method to find money to satisfy that addiction. The societal cost of even a single mugging etc. is going to far exceed the cost of ensuring they have a stable supply.