Table Of ContentUK Drugs Unlimited
New Research and Policy Lessons
on Illicit Drug Use
Edited by
Howard Parker, Judith Aldridge and
Roy Egginton
UK Drugs Unlimited
Also by Howard Parker
DANCING ON DRUGS: Health Risk and Hedonism in the British Clubscene
(with Judith Aldridge and Fiona Measham)
HIDDEN HEROIN USERS: Young People’s Unchallenged Journeys to
Problematic Drug Use (with Roy Egginton)
ILLEGAL LEISURE: The Normalization of Adolescent Recreational Drug Use
(with Judith Aldridge and Fiona Measham)
NEW HEROIN OUTBREAKS AMONGST YOUNG PEOPLE IN ENGLAND AND
WALES (with Roy Egginton and C. Bury)
Also by Judith Aldridge
DANCING ON DRUGS: Health Risk and Hedonism in the British Clubscene
(with Howard Parker and Fiona Measham)
ILLEGAL LEISURE: The Normalization of Adolescent Recreational Drug Use
(with Howard Parker and Fiona Measham)
Also by Roy Egginton
HIDDEN HEROIN USERS: Young People’s Unchallenged Journeys to
Problematic Drug Use (with Howard Parker)
NEW HEROIN OUTBREAKS AMONGST YOUNG PEOPLE IN ENGLAND AND
WALES (with Howard Parker and C. Bury)
UK Drugs Unlimited
New Research and Policy Lessons
on Illicit Drug Use
Edited by
Howard Parker
Professor and Director of SPARC
University of Manchester
Judith Aldridge
Lecturer in Criminology and Social Policy
University of Manchester
and
Roy Egginton
Research Associate
SPARC
University of Manchester
Editorial matter,selection and Chapters 3 and 8 © Howard Parker,
Judith Aldridge and Roy Egginton 2001
Chapters 1 and 2 © Howard Parker 2001
Chapter 4 © Jon Breeze,Judith Aldridge and Howard Parker 2001
Chapter 5 © Fiona Measham,Judith Aldridge and Howard Parker 2001
Chapter 6 © Howard Parker,Roy Egginton and Nicola Elson 2001
Chapter 7 © Kevin Brain,Howard Parker and Tim Bottomley 2001
All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of
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issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,90 Tottenham Court
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
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claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their rights to be identified
as the authors of this work in accordance with the
Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2001 by
PALGRAVE
Houndmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire RG21 6XS and
175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVEis the new global academic imprint of
St.Martin’s Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and
Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd).
ISBN 978-1-349-42352-1 ISBN 978-1-4039-1986-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781403919861
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and
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A catalogue record for this book is available
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
UK drugs unlimited :new research and policy lessons on
illicit drug use / edited by Howard Parker,Judith Aldridge,
and Roy Egginton.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1.Drug abuse—Great Britain.2.Youth—Drug use—Great
Britain.I.Parker,Howard J.II.Aldridge,Judith,1963–
III.Egginton,Roy.
HV5840.G7 I555 2000
362.29’0941—dc21
00–066924
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01
Contents
List of tables viii
List of figures x
Acknowledgements xi
Notes on the contributors xii
Glossary xiv
Introduction xv
1 Unbelievable? The UK’s Drugs Present 1
Howard Parker
Purpose 1
The comparative picture 2
The UK’s first heroin ‘cycle’ 4
The 1990s and the normalisation of recreational drug use 8
Waging war on drugs together 10
New Labour’s drugs strategy (1998–2008) 10
Conclusion 12
2 Unenforceable? How Young Britons Obtain Their Drugs 14
Howard Parker
Purpose 14
Strong supply and availability 15
Methods 16
Adolescent recreational drug users 18
The dance club–dance drug scene 24
Dependent on drugs, dependent on dealers 25
Conclusions 27
3 Unconventional? Adolescent Drug Triers
and Users in England 31
Roy Egginton, Judith Aldridge and Howard Parker
Purpose 31
Introduction 32
Method 32
Alcohol and tobacco use 33
v
vi Contents
Young people’s access to drugs 34
Trying illicit drugs 35
Past month use 39
Distinguishing drug triers from users 41
Regular drug use 44
Comparing age cohorts 46
Unconventional? Risk and deviance factor analysis 46
Conclusion 48
4 Unpreventable? How Young People Make and Remake
Drug Taking Decisions 51
Jon Breeze, Judith Aldridge and Howard Parker
Purpose 51
Introduction: drugwise youth 52
The qualitative methods 55
New social rites 57
Abstainers’ journeys 59
Drug triers 63
Becoming drug users 71
Becoming a problem drug user 76
Conclusion 78
5 Unstoppable? Dance Drug Use in the UK Club Scene 80
Fiona Measham, Judith Aldridge and Howard Parker
Purpose 80
The going out, time out population 81
Profiles of the clubbing population 81
The nightclub fieldwork 83
The clubbers’ nights out 86
The cost of clubbing 89
Pathways to regular dance drug use 92
Discussion 93
6 Unreachable? The New Young Heroin Users 98
Howard Parker, Roy Egginton and Nicola Elson
Purpose 98
Introduction 99
Attempting to monitor new heroin spread 99
Accessing ‘hidden’ young heroin users 101
Demographic characteristics of the young heroin users 103
The social exclusion, ‘at risk’ measures 103
Contents vii
Smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol and trying and
use of illicit drugs 106
Damaged childhoods and adolescence? 108
Heroin careers: initiation, evolution and current use status 109
The consequences and costs of heroin dependency 111
Problems with personal health 117
Reaching out and early interventions 123
Conclusion 126
7 Untreatable? Hidden Crack Cocaine and Poly Drug Users 128
Kevin Brain, Howard Parker and Tim Bottomley
Purpose 128
Crack cocaine prevalence in the UK 129
Challenging methods 130
Evolving crack careers 131
Rock repertoires, drug bills and drug crime connections 136
Contemplating and affecting ‘reform’ 140
New recruits and new crack careers – continuity and change 143
New pathways into crack cocaine careers 146
Discussion 147
8 Unpredictable? Britain’s Drugs Futures 150
Howard Parker, Judith Aldridge and Roy Egginton
Purpose 150
The forces of conservatism 151
The fate of UK drugs strategy 153
The missing elements 162
Institutionalised dishonesty 164
Monitoring and managing UK drugs more effectively 165
Bibliography 171
Index 178
List of Tables
3.1 Northern regions longitudinal study: sampling overview 33
3.2 Alcohol and tobacco use across adolescence 34
3.3 Access to drugs by age cohort, 1996–98 36
3.4 Lifetime trying of at least one drug by age cohort and
region 1996–98 38
3.5 Individual drugs tried or used by age cohort 1996–98 40
3.6 Past month prevalence for at least one drug by age
cohort 1996–98 41
3.7 Drugs trying compared to ‘potential’ and ‘regular’
drug use by age cohort 1996–98 43
3.8 Thirteen year olds (year 8) in 1996 and 1998:
comparative drugs exposure 46
4.1 Interview cohort: sumary of drugs status 14–17 years 56
5.1 Demographic characteristics of the clubbers 87
5.2 Had (or planning to); drug taking on fieldwork night 88
5.3 ‘Recovery’ after clubbing drug use 90
5.4 Prevalence of selected drugs 92
5.5 Drugs careers: number of years since first taking the
main illicit drugs 93
6.1 Outline of fieldwork 102
6.2 Drugs tried, last time used and mean age when first
tried for young heroin users 107
6.3 Current use status among young heroin users 112
6.4 Self reported health problems arising from heroin use 117
6.5 Dependency and anxiety by length of heroin use 120
6.6 Expenditure on heroin and other illicit drugs in
the last seven days by Site 122
6.7 Contact with local services by length of heroin use 124
7.1 Employment and benefit status 132
7.2 Alcohol use in 1995 and 1997 132
7.3 Drug use patterns and pathways since 1995 135
7.4 Total drugs bill over six month period 1995 and 1997 137
7.5 All funding strategies of illegal drug use
1995 and 1997 138
7.6 Main sources of funding illegal drugs bills
1995 and 1997 139
viii
List of Tables ix
7.7 Length of time of crack use and crack pathways 142
7.8 Pre-cocaine drugs histories of new user and original
cohort compared 144
7.9 The rock repertoire: taking other drugs alongside crack 145
