I would like to make a point that, it seems to me, has not been discussed yet. Irregardless Regardless of my opinion on whether a student students can get more or less from a given lecture by having a set of lecture notes in advance, I think that this habit prevents them from improving their study skills.
I think that two good skills are lost in this way: taking good notes in an effective way and being able to study from books.
As for the first one, taking notes need not be a mere exercise of copying from the blackboard. When I was a student I used to take notes of what the the lecturer said AND what he wrote at the blackboard, even adding connections on my own. In a sense I rewrote the whole thing in my words in real time. This usually resulted in a far better understanding of the lecture itself. It also forced me to keep a constant attention and not lose the pace, and prompted me to guess proof in advance to save time. It also forced me to stop the lecturer and make questions when I could not follow. All in all, it just made me more active. It was a really good exercise, and student should be encouraged to doing so, within limits.
As for the second one, it is a different thing studying from a set of notes that contains exactly what you need to know, presented in the same way as the lecture, rather than having to browse through a book which possibily contains more (or different) material, with a different emphasis. Sooner or later the students will need to resort to books, and at that time having some experience will help them not getting lost.
So, while lecture notes on WHATEVER will help you learn WHATEVER, they may hinder you learning other things later. I think a reasonable compromise may be to give lecture notes at the end of each topic, even with a small delay.
