Narcomania
A timely and gripping investigation of illegal drugs in the UK. Filled with fascinating and shocking case studies gathered over twenty years of investigative reporting, it explodes many of the myths and misconceptions about drug use, and makes a compelling case for a new way forward.
Looking at the dealers, the users, the police and the politicians, Narcomania charts how consumption and markets have fragmented and changed over the last decade; follows the money to reveal where Britain's licit and illicit economies overlap; explains where each of the major recreational drugs comes from; and maps which drugs are popular in different parts of the country. It will explode many of the myths and misconceptions about drug use, and tap into fraught debates about how politicians, parents and police should respond.
In the wake of the internet boom, globalisation and a decade of decadence, Britain sits at a crossroads in the legalisation-versus-intolerance debate. While other nations have succeeded with progressive experiments, inertia and self-contradiction define British drug policy to the detriment of everyone except the criminal underworld. Unsurprisingly, in the light of this book, our politicians are confused about what will please or displease the all-important middle class electorate. Equally unsurprisingly, however, so much myth and confusion surrounds the subject that clarity must be brought to chaos if the wisdom of the crowd is ever to surface....
Max Daly specialises in drugs and social affairs journalism. He was editor of Druglink, feeding the national media and the sector with UK drug use trends, investigations and analysis of the UK drug market, for eight years. His articles have informed the government and the Serious Organised Crime Agency. Previously he was deputy news editor on the Big Issue. He has written for the Guardian, Daily Mirror, BBC, Independent and Mail on Sunday.
Steve Sampson has worked across local, regional and national press covering a variety of sectors from politics, regulation and finance to social exclusion, drugs and crime. He has written for the Guardian, Time Out, Big Issue and has written for Druglink for the past fifteen years. He currently works as a freelance features writer and copy editor.