Illicit drugs and their use are now, more than ever, a dominant concern of politicians, policy makers and the general public. Often, our understandings of the 'drug problem' tend to be uni-dimensional and based around particular areas of risk: drug related crime, dependency and ill-health. This book moves beyond this single issue approach and locates illicit drug use in its wider context, with chapters on:

• the history of illicit drug use
• measuring the 'problem'
• legal and medical responses to illicit drug use
• the illicit drugs market
• drugs, crime and trends in drug policy.

Adrian Barton is a Lecturer in Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Plymouth.

1. Introduction 2. An Historical Overview of the Social Construction of the British 'Drug Problem' 3. Measuring the 'Problem': Drug use in contemporary Britain 4. The British State's Legal and Medical Responses to Illicit Drug Use 5. Illicit Drugs: Growth and production 6. Illicit Drugs: Markets and market forces 7. Illicit Drugs: Paying for the Goods and Assessing the Costs 8. 'Forget the Myth We're Desperados Standing on Street Corners. This is a Demand Led Market' 9. 'Let's Get Real': Contemporary directions in UK drug policy 10. British Drug Policy in a European Context