ABSTRACT
Amphetamines were a popular recreational substance before the 1960s but the arrival of the disco at the turn of the decade made them the drug of choice for the mod club culture. Up until 31 July 1964 pep pills, as central nervous stimulants of the amphetamine class were called, were legal to possess but only available on prescription. This chapter charts the way amphetamines were supplied in an era where use of the drug was normalised within British society. The grey market for pills was almost completely eradicated by the changed legal status of amphetamines. The chapter identifies two central changes to the supply of amphetamines in the wake of the Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act. First, that the element of the grey market that remained in place was dominated by more criminally involved characters, and that it attracted established criminals like the Krays to the market. Second, that it gave incentive to the more delinquent members of the mod club culture to engage in the burglary of chemist shops. We argue that these two forms of dealing need to be separated. The first can be conceptualised as a form of external exploitation, while the second, though criminal, was a form of internal exploitation. The latter category gained support from a subculture that was shaped by the heavy-handed policing of dance clubs and coffee bars. The chapter goes on to demonstrate how policing the supply of pharmaceutically manufactured pills did less to stem demand and more to create opportunity for more external criminal exploitation through the supply of illicitly manufactured amphetamine.
