Drug Research and Policy in Britain: A Contemporary History

• NCJ Number: 120965
• Journal: International Journal on Drug Policy Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: (July/August 1989) Pages: 13-17
• Author(s): N Dorn; N South
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 5 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: This is an edited version of a paper presented at the Symposium on Drugs Research and Coordination at the University of London, July 25-27.

Annotation

This article reviews the history of the main trends in British research into drug misuse.

Abstract

Drug research in the 1960's in Britain was in the context of a contest between a liberationist idealism that emphasized freedom for behavioral experimentation and a disciplinary empiricism that focused on the avoidance of behaviors that resulted in empirically proven social and personal harms. These contrasting influences produced a tempered permissiveness regarding drug use. The research of the 1970's focused on drug use epidemilogy, etiology, demand reduction, and social integration. In the 1980's there have been five main strands in British drug policy: stopping the problem at the source, increased emphasis on law enforcement, user counseling, localization of responsibility to address the drug problem, and concern over the connection between the spread of AIDS and intravenous drug use. In discussing areas where British research has been weak, the article discusses construction of the policy agenda, AIDS in prisons, and drug distribution. 26 references.