Drug-Control Policies in Britain

Abstract

The British approach to heroin addiction has been widely misunderstood. The "British system" did not break down in the 1960s under the pressure of an upsurge in heroin misuse. The 1960s heroin phenomenon was a relatively minor difficulty almost entirely confined to London and failed to dislodge the medical profession from its central role in the British response to serious drug misuse. During the 1980s, however, a major heroin epidemic spread rapidly through a number of towns and cities in the North of England and Scotland, concentrated mainly in areas of high unemployment and social deprivation. Government-sponsored responses have included high-profile mass media campaigns and a strengthening of the law-enforcement effort. Even so, the "British system" has remained essentially intact. In response to the threat of drug-related HIV transmission, public health remedies have reasserted themselves against the prevailing rhetoric of "law and order."