Drug treatment systems and policy frameworks: A comparative social policy perspective

The article offers a discussion of drug treatment systems from a social pol icy perspective. Comparative studies of social policy have utilised typolog ies to aid analysis. These are briefly characterised in this article. Curre nt analysis of social policy points to changes in the shape of policy regim es. How are these changes impacting on drug treatment systems? Key principl es around which policy forms are organised are the desire to effect social control, the desire to meet human need, and the need to minimise harm from risks present in the environment. In practice, these principles operate in tension and different outcomes are observable in different societies. The a rticle argues that, in spite of these historical and cultural differences, some convergence is observable in systems as they adapt to global influence s. There remains however an urgent need for more detailed empirical researc h on policy responses in different countries, utilising the case-study appr oach adopted by the ISDRUTS collaborators.