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How is UK drugs policy made, and why does it so often seem irrational when considering what works in reducing drug-related harms?
This book explains how the concept of drug policy constellations – the loosely concerted policy actors with shared moral commitments that influenced policy outcomes – explains why there is no such thing as 'evidence-based' drug policy. Drawing on his participation in high-level policy discussions, and a novel approach to policy analysis, Stevens presents three recent cases involving key issues in UK illicit drug policy – medical cannabis, drug-related deaths and the government’s 10-year drug strategy.
1. An Introduction to Drug Policy Constellations
Part I: Contexts, Concepts and Methods for Studying Drug Policy Constellations
2. Facts and Narratives of the UK Drug Policy Context
3. Power and Morality in Policy Making
4. Policy Constellation: A Critical Realist Approach
5. Studying Policy Constellations in the Real World
Part II: Morality and Power in UK Drug Policy Constellations
6. Moralities in Action: The Ethico-Political Bases of UK Drug Policy
7. Mapping UK Drug Policy Constellations
8. Power in UK Drug Policy Constellations
Part III: Cases in Drug Policy Making in the UK
9. The Legalisation of Medical Cannabis
10. Responses to the Drug Deaths Crisis: Explaining Differences at UK and Scottish Levels
11. The UK’s Ten-Year Drug Strategy
12. A Retroductive Conclusion