ABSTRACT
This chapter considers aspects of the relationship between the illicit drugs economy and the legal economy and discusses the validity or invalidity of the hypothetical propositions. It also considers the value of the principal sociological theories traditionally employed in analysis of drug use subculture theory and the "retreatist" category within Anomie theory. In London, the essential elements that seem to have favoured the success of drug importation enterprises appear to have been: the accessibility of sources of production, the existence of legal communication channels with these sources, and the ability to mesh legal commercial operations with illicit trafficking. As many commentators favouring decriminalization or legalization of drugs have argued, the escalation of organized forms of crime can be interpreted as the inevitable outcome of the parallel escalation of the war against drugs. Drug use and distribution involves social groups which are too diverse for them to be identified with one or more specific subcultures.
