ABSTRACT
The character of British drugs policy changed over the course of the twentieth century from an apparently ideal treatment-oriented 'system' to one continuously grappling with change, multiplying numbers and types of users, substances and problems. Nineteenth-century discourse had viewed addiction as both a moral failing and disease. During the Second World War, emergency legislation further restricted opium. There was a significant shift towards greater attention to trafficking from the late 1980s, reflecting international developments. And from the early 1990s, a momentum built up to develop a more coherent and wide-ranging approach. Through these years, there was another separate story regarding cannabis. Although in the later years of the twentieth century, there appeared to be a move towards decriminalisation, this went into reverse with the arrival of skunk. Drug-related deaths also became a cause for concern. Drugs offences contribute to the prison population.
