ABSTRACT
This chapter traces Britain’s shifting relationship to the concept of international drug prohibition and explores what might be the future of drug policy in this one-time global hegemon as it faces down the prospect of transformative constitutional restructuring. It explores how drug policy reform connects to underlying political and economic interests that shift over the course of history, not just in Britain but across the world, and how our understanding of drugs is dependent on contingent historical, political or financial interests. Understanding this opens a door towards understanding the contemporary deep resistance of the UK government towards exploring the type of progressive drug policies that are being explored in other jurisdictions.
