ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with markets, cultures, structures and networks, in which illegal drugs feature as commodities. It offers a broader picture of patterns of drug use, markets, crime, trafficking and controls across Europe. It presents the case studies of significant drug problem histories in Britain, Italy, Netherlands in Western Europe, and Poland in Eastern Europe. In Britain, cannabis remains the most popular illegal drug in use, yet social concern, policy debate and research interest have, primarily, focused on heroin. Epidemiological and enforcement data cover increases in use of other drugs in Poland since the 1970s, including anxiolytics, sedatives, hypnotics and illicitly manufactured amphetamines. In the west, and now increasingly in Eastern Europe, commentators have often associated increases in drug use with broader social problems, typically social deprivation, high unemployment, economic dislocation and social marginalization.
