I believe it would be safer if it was decriminalized or fully legalized. Most overdoses are either from something it's cut with, like fentynol, or because of inconsistent potency. Someone gets a batch that's twice as strong as they usually get, so they overdose off the same sized shot. Having an open free market for the drug will create consistent medical grade heroin that would save countless lives. Portugal has already decriminalized it, New Zealand has government sponsored heroin clinics where addicts can get cheap medical grade heroin every morning. Both cases are showing fantastic results. Check out this video. Theirs a lot of great research out these days.