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Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- A note on terminology -- 1 Drug policy: an introduction -- 2 Drug policies to improve health and reduce harm -- 3 Drug policies as laws and regulations, and policing -- 4 Drug policies and research evidence -- 5 Analysing drug policy formation -- 6 Analysing the discursive effects of drug policy -- 7 Influencing drug policy: making change happen -- 8 Democratising drug policy -- References -- Index.

International drug policy is undergoing change, and certain types of lay experts, those who have experienced problems with drug use, are getting a more important role. By drawing on 30 in-depth interviews with representatives from drug users' organizations, bureaucrats and researchers, we explore the rise of lay experts in Norwegian drug policy. We show how these lay experts' personal credibility is based on a history of serious drug problems, in particular injecting amphetamine or heroin, as well as the ensuing stigma. On an organizational level, lay experts' roles as service users or patients generate credibility, even if the background is often the users' experiences of pain and stigma. We document how lay experts have been included and have influenced the Norwegian drug policy process. However, a problem with representativeness remains, as some groups of drug users, for example, young persons, those who mainly use cannabis or benzodiazepines, those involved in crime and those who belong to ethnic minorities, have not been included to the same extent. Thus, the increasing role of lay experts in the Norwegian drug policy process poses some unexpected challenges in terms of the democratization of expertise. This lack of representativeness may be part of the reason why the initially successful reform movement now seems to face a setback.

Since about 1994, when the German Federal Constitutional Court effectively decriminalized the possession of small amounts of cannabis, a functional equivalent to criminal law has evolved in the form of traffic laws providing for the revocation of driving licenses in cases of cannabis possession. The historical and legal interpretations of this regulation are described, and its consequences are analyzed. It is postulated that, under the veil of traffic safety, harsh and repressive drug policies are being utilized to counteract legalization tendencies.

The increased cooperation between European Union member states in many policy areas has made it increasingly difficult for individual countries to pursue national policies on issues like drugs. The drug policies of the Netherlands, which center squarely on harm reduction, were under severe attack in recent years. Yet a good look at the actual practices in many other countries leaves no doubt that the predominant tendency is towards a harm reduction approach. Debates are also underway in many countries on drug policy reform, and everything from the decriminalization or legalization of cannabis to the legal prescription of heroin have been advocated. Although it is not yet clear just what future policies will look like, the current wave of pragmatism in many European countries has made the liberal Dutch approach less of an isolated case than it was a decade or more ago.

In 1997 New Labour came to power with a landslide victory. This period also marked a watershed for illicit drug use which had become so widespread across the UK that it was regarded as a mainstream adolescent experience. However, broadly speaking there were two groups of drug users: one group of young people who selectively used drugs on a recreational and largely non-problematic basis; while another group (usually unemployed and socially excluded), who used whatever drugs they could find in a chaotic and problematic manner. Drug taking had become a normalized activity and criminalization of these drugs seemed unenforceable, out of touch and inappropriate. Inheriting an unworkable 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act 1997 seemed an opportune time for the New Labour government to deliver on its 'promise of change' and introduce drug legislation fit for the new millennium. This article reflects upon some of the key policy and legal changes introduced by the New Labour government (1997—2010) to manage drug use and misuse.

The appetite for illicit drugs in the UK continues to grow and diversify. Young Britons consume more drugs than their peers anywhere else in Europe. Why and how has this happened and why have all official efforts to stem drug 'abuse' so far failed. Will the new UK drugs strategy fair any better? This unique collection of contemporary studies from the frontline by a leading social research group describes the drugs landscape in an accessible and authoritative way.

1. Informing and guiding drug policy -- 2. The debate over control and regulation -- 3. The debate over management -- 4. The debate over value -- 5. Case studies: the unintended consequences of ill-informed policies -- 6. False issues, dubious solutions, and the need for public discourse.

In the first place, I welcome you warmly to the Peace Palace. I am the director of the Carnegie Foundation, a foundation which owns and manages the Palace and which is the host to the Peace Palace Library. So it is a great pleasure to see all of you here, in this new part of the Palace, the Academy and Library Building.