A police department in Gloucester, Massachusetts, has decided to scrap the 'War on Drugs' for a more practical approach- offering a helping hand and friendly ear to heroin addicts in the town. People dependent on opium will now be able to seek support from the local cops- even if they have drugs in their pockets.

"It's a disease, not a crime," Gloucester's police chief Leonard Campanello said about addiction. "We're committed to the idea of attacking the demand rather than attacking the supply."

By this, he means that while dealers will still be faced with the full force of the law, addicts will get advice and help into detox. Campanello's change of tactic was first made public on a facebook post, after the small town's fourth fatal opium overdose. Last year, Massachusetts saw over 1000 cases of death by heroin, which is a record high for the state.

Campanello's plan is to buy doses of Narcan, a drug that reverses opium overdoses, and support addicts into rehab and counselling. He will fund the project from money taken from drug dealers, or as he puts it: "We will save lives with the money from the pockets of those who would take them."