Book description
Narcomania is a timely, gripping and informative investigation
of drugs in the UK. Looking at the dealers, the users, the police and
the politicians, the book 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.
