"For gangs, the Misuse of Drugs Act (1975) has been one of the best recruiting tools they’ve ever had. Criminalisation of a raft of illicit drugs not only provides them with a wildly lucrative black market.
...
Once users are prosecuted and get sent to jail, gangs offer not only a vital form of self-preservation on the inside, but are (often) the only willing employer waiting on the outside."
#GordonCampbell, 2025
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2511/S00036/on-why-we-should-de-criminalise-personal-drug-use.htm