The War on Drugs - a war on drug users?

The authors argue that since the 1980s UK drug policy has largely been ill considered, reactive and counter productive. Rather than reducing drug taki ng and drug-related crime, such policies have exacerbated the problem and c ontributed towards an environment in which drug use and illegal drug activi ties are likely to flourish. One of the consequences of this 'war on drugs' is that it manifests itself as a 'war on drug users' with an emphasis not upon the development of appropriate rehabilitative models, but upon prevent ion, prohibition and punishment. Drawing on the authors' qualitative resear ch on Merseyside, England involving 200 problem drug users, it will be argu ed that the war on drug users has subjected these people to a process of st igmatization, marginalization and social exclusion, and prevented many of t hem from recovery by hindering their reintegation into the wider social and economic community. Instead, growing numbers of problematic drug users rem ain locked into a cycle of chronic drug relapse.