This paper explores the socio-political construction of drug-related crime; a concept that has dominated recent developments in UK drug policy. It has been assumed that the perceived overlap between known offenders and drug users is also present among the much larger groups of unknown offenders and drug users. This assumption has led to inflated claims of scale, precision and causality in political discussions of the drug-crime link. The discourse coalition approach is used to analyse how such methodologically suspect knowledge has been translated into policy since 1997. It is argued that the concept of drug-related crime has been influential because it is tactically and structurally useful to powerful groups in discursive struggle.
Allen, C. (2005) ‘The Links between Heroin, Crack Cocaine and Street Crime: Where Does Street Crime Fit In?’ , British Journal of Criminology45: 355–372 .
2.
Anglin, M. D. and McGlothlin, W. H. (1984) ‘Outcome of Narcotic Addict Treatment in California’, pp. 106–128 in F. M. Tims and J. P. Ludford (eds) Drug Abuse Treatment Evaluation: Strategies, Progress and Prospects. Washington DC: US Government Press .
3.
Anonymous (2000) ‘Amazing Drugs and Crime Facts No 1: 42,000,000 Crimes Every Year: When Do We Get the Time to Take Drugs?’ [http://www.sid.u-net.com/monkey/i4a3.htm], accessed 10 August 2005.
4.
Barclay, G. and Tavares, C. (1999) Digest 4: Information on the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales. London: Home Office .
5.
Baron, S. W. (1999) ‘Street Youths and Substance Use - The Role of Background, Street Lifestyle and Economic Factors’ , Youth and Society31(1): 3–26 .
6.
Barton, A. (1999) ‘Sentenced to Treatment? Criminal Justice Orders and the Health Service’ , Critical Social Policy19(4): 463–483 .
7.
Bauman, Z. (2000) ‘Social Issues of Law and Order’ , British Journal of Criminology40: 205–221 .
8.
Bennett, T. , Holloway, K. and Williams, T. (2001) Drug Use and Offending: Summary Results from the First Year of the NEW-ADAM Research Programme. London: Home Office .
9.
Berridge, V. (1984) ‘Drugs and Social Policy: The Establishment of Drug Control in Britain 1900-30’ , British Journal of Addiction79: 17–29 .
10.
Berridge, V. and Edwards, G. (1981) Opium and the People. London: St Martin's Press .
11.
Black, N. (2001) ‘Evidence Based Policy: Proceed with Care’ , British Medical Journal323: 275–279 .
12.
Blackman, S. (2004) Chilling Out: The Cultural Politics of Substance Consumption, Youth and Drug Policy. Maidenhead: Open University Press .
13.
Blagg, H. , Sampson, A. , Pearson, G. , Smith, D. and Stubbs, P. (1988) ‘Inter-Agency Cooperation: Rhetoric and Reality’, pp. 204-218 in T. Hope and M. Shaw (eds) Communities and Crime Reduction. London: HMSO .
14.
Bourgois, P. (2000) ‘Disciplining Addictions: The Bio-Politics of Methadone and Heroin in the United States’ , Culture Medicine and Psychiatry24(2): 165–195 .
15.
Buchanan, J. and Young, L. (2000) ‘The War on Drugs – A War on Drug Users?’ , Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy7(4): 409–422 .
16.
Budd, T. and Sharp, C. (2005) Offending in England and Wales: First Results from the 2003 Crime and Justice Survey. Findings 244. London: Home Office .
17.
Burr, A. (1987) ‘Chasing the Dragon: Heroin Misuse, Dependency and Crime in the Context of South London Culture’ , British Journal of Criminology27(4): 333–357 .
18.
Byrne, D. (1999) Social Exclusion. Buckingham: Open University Press .
19.
Chambliss, W. J. (1973) ‘The Roughnecks and the Saints’ , Society (November/December): 24–31 .
20.
Christie, N. (2000) Crime Control as Industry: Towards Gulags Western Style?London: Routledge .
21.
Cohen, S. (1985) Visions of Social Control. Cambridge: Polity Press .
Davies, N. (2003) ‘National Plan that only Fuels the Fire’, The Guardian 23 May.
24.
Deitch, D. , Koutsenok, I. and Ruiz, A. (2000) ‘The Relationship between Crime and Drugs: What We Have Learned in Recent Decades’ , Journal of Psychoactive Drugs32(4): 391–397 .
25.
Departmental Committee on Morphine and Heroin Addiction (1926) The Rolleston Report. London: HMSO .
26.
Edmunds, M. , May, T. , Hearnden, I. and Hough, M. (1998) Arrest Referral: Emerging Lessons from Research. Drugs Initiative Paper 23. London: Home Office .
27.
Engen, R. L. , Steen, S. and Bridges, G. S. (2002) ‘Racial Disparities in the Punishment of Youth: A Theoretical and Empirical Assessment of the Literature’ , Social Problems49(2): 194–220 .
28.
Estrada, F. (2004) ‘The Transformation of the Politics of Crime in High Crime Societies’ , European Journal of Criminology1(4): 419–443 .
29.
Fitzpatrick, T. (2001) ‘New Agenda for Social Policy and Criminology: Globalization, Urbanism and the Emerging Post-Social Security State’ , Social Policy and Administration35(2): 212–229 .
30.
Garland, D. (2001) The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
31.
Giddens, A. (1979) Central Problems in Social Theory: Action, Structure and Contradiction in Social Analysis. London: The Macmillan Press .
32.
Gilpin, E. A. , White, M. M. , White, V. M. , Distefan, J. M. , Trinidad, D. R. , James, L. , Lee, L. , Major, J. , Kealey, S. and Pierce, J. P. (2004) Tobacco Control Successes in California: A Focus on Young People, Results from the California Tobacco Surveys, 1990-2002. La Jolla, CA: University of California, San Diego .
33.
Godfrey, C. , Eaton, G. , McDougall, C. and Culyer, A. (2002) The Economic and Social Costs of Class A Drug Use in England and Wales, 2000. Home Office Research Study 249. London: Home Office .
34.
Godfrey, C. , Stewart, D. and Gossop, M. (2004) ‘Economic Analysis of Costs and Consequences of the Treatment of Drug Misuse: 2-year Outcome Data from the National Treatment Outcome Research Study (NTORS)’ , Addiction99(6): 697–707 .
35.
Gossop, M. , Marsden, J. and Stewart, D. (1998a) NTORS at One Year: The National Treatment Outcome Research Study. Changes in Substance Use, Health and Criminal Behaviour One Year after Intake. London: Department of Health .
36.
Gossop, M. , Marsden, J. , Stewart, D. , Lehmann, P. , Edwards, C. , Wilson, A. and Segar, G. (1998b) ‘Substance Use, Health and Social Problems of Service Users at 54 Drug Treatment Agencies’ , British Journal of Psychiatry173: 166–171 .
37.
Gossop, M. , Trakada, K. , Stewart, D. and Witton, J. (2006) Levels of Conviction Following Drug Treatment: Linking Data from the National Treatment Outcome Research Study and the Offenders Index. Findings 275. London: Home Office .
38.
Greenbank, S. , Davis, J. , Madden, J. and Dunn, D. J. (2005) ‘Compliance Monitoring - Its Role in Tobacco Control and Advocacy’ , 5th National Health Promotion Conference. Canberra: Australian Health Promotion Association. [http://www.healthpromotion.act.gov.au/news/conferences/files/Greenbank.pdf], accessed 21 March 2006.
39.
Hajer, M. A. (1989) City Politics: Hegemonic Projects and Discourse. Aldershot: Avebury .
40.
Hajer, M. A. (1993) ‘Discourse Coalitions and the Institutionalisation of Practice: The Case of Acid Rain in Britain’, pp. 43–76 in F. Fischer and J. Forester (eds) The Argumentative Turn in Policy Analysis and Planning. Durham: Duke University Press .
41.
Hayes, P. (2005) ‘Debate: This House Believes that We Need More Coercive Testing and Treatment Services’, National Drug Treatment Conference. London: Exchange Supplies . [http://www.exchangesupplies.org/conferences/2005_NDTC/speakers/debate_hayes_wells.html], accessed 21 March 2006.
42.
Home Office (1985) Criminal Convictions of Persons Fist Notified as Narcotic Addicts in 1979-81. Home Office Statistical Bulletin 19/85. London: Home Office .
43.
Hunt, N. (2004) ‘Public Health or Human Rights: What Comes First?’ , International Journal of Drug Policy15: 231–237 .
44.
Hunt, N. and Stevens, A. (2004) ‘Whose Harm? Harm and the Shift from Health to Coercion in UK Drug Policy’ , Social Policy and Society3(4): 333–342 .
45.
Jelsma, M. and Kramer, T. (2005) Downward Spiral: Banning Opium in Afghanistan and Burma. TNI Briefing Series No. 2005/2. Amsterdam: Transnational Institute .
46.
Judd, A. , Hickman, M. , Jones, S. , McDonald, T. , Parry, J. V. , Stimson, G. V. and Hall, A. J. (2005) ‘Incidence of Hepatitis C Virus and HIV among New Injecting Drug Users in London: Prospective Cohort Study’ , British Medical Journal330(7481): 24–25 .
47.
Lea, J. (1997) ‘The Return of the Dangerous Classes: Crime Control in the 21st Century’ , Inaugural Professorial Lecture, Middlesex University [http://www.bunker8.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/misc/inaug.htm], accessed 2 February 2005.
48.
McBride, D. C. and McCoy, C. B. (1993) ‘The Drugs-Crime Relationship: An Analytical Framework’ , The Prison Journal73: 257–278 .
49.
Marmot, M. G. (2004) ‘Evidence Based Policy or Policy Based Evidence’ , British Medical Journal328(7445): 906–907 .
50.
Martin, S. E. , Maxwell, C. D. , White, H. R. and Zhang, Y. (2004) ‘Trends in Alcohol Use, Cocaine Use, and Crime: 1989-1998’ , Journal of Drug Issues34(2): 333–359 .
51.
Mott, J. (1986) ‘Opioid Use and Burglary’ , British Journal of Addiction81: 671–677 .
52.
Mumola, C. J. (1999) Substance Abuse and Treatment, State and Federal Prisoners, 1997. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Special Report. Washington DC: US Department of Justice .
53.
National Treatment Agency (2006) ‘Programmes: Funding’ [http://www.nta.nhs.uk/frameset.asp?u=http://www.nta.nhs.uk/programme/national/funding_intro.htm], accessed 31 March 2006.
54.
Naughton, M. (2005) ‘“Evidence-based Policy” and the Government of the Criminal Justice System - Only if the Evidence Fits!’ , Critical Social Policy25(1): 47–69 .
55.
Parker, H. (2004) ‘The New Drugs Interventions Industry: What Outcomes Can Drugs/Criminal Justice Treatment Programmes Realistically Deliver?’ , Probation Journal51(4): 379–386 .
56.
Parker, H. and Bakx, K. (1988) Living with Heroin: the Impact of a Drugs ‘Epidemic’ in an English Community. Milton Keynes: Open University Press .
57.
Parker, H. and Newcombe, R. (1987) ‘Heroin Use and Acquisitive Crime in an English Community’ , British Journal of Sociology38: 331–350 .
58.
Pathan, D. (2005) ‘Thailand's War on Drugs’, pp. 101–124 in M. Jelsma , T. Kramer and P. Vervest (eds) Trouble in the Triangle: Opium and Conflict in Burma. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books .
59.
Pearson, G. (1987) The New Heroin Users. Oxford: Blackwell .
60.
Pearson, G. (1991) ‘Drug-control Policies in Britain’, pp. 167–227 in M. Tonry (ed.) Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, Vol. 14. Chicago: University of Chicago Press .
61.
Rolles, S. , Kushlick, D. and Jay, M. (2004) After the War on Drugs: Options for Control. London: Transform Drug Policy Foundation .
62.
Seddon, T. (2000) ‘Explaining the Drug-Crime Link: Theoretical, Policy and Research Issues’ , Journal of Social Policy29(1): 95–107 .
63.
Seddon, T. (2006) ‘Drugs, Crime and Social Exclusion: Social Context and Social Theory in British Drugs-Crime Research’ , British Journal of Criminology46(4): 680–703 .
64.
Smith, D. J. (1997) ‘Ethnic Origins, Crime, and Criminal Justice in England and Wales’ , Crime and Justice21: 101–182 .
65.
Stevens, A. (forthcoming) ‘Survival of the Ideas that Fit: An Evolutionary Analogy for the Use of Evidence in Policy’, Social Policy and Society.
66.
Stimson, G. , Hickman, M. and Turnbull, P. J. (1998) ‘Statistics on Misuse of Drugs Have Been Misused’ , British Medical Journal317(7169): 1388-1388 .
67.
Strategy Unit (2003) SU Drugs Report. Phase 1 Report: Understanding the Issues [http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2005/07/05/Report.pdf], accessed 10 August 2005.
68.
Taylor, I. (1999) Crime in Context: A Critical Criminology of Market Societies. Cambridge: Polity Press .
69.
Tonry, M. (2004) Punishment and Politics: Evidence and Emulation in the Making of English Crime Control Policy. Cullompton: Willan Publishing .
70.
Trace, M. , Riley, D. and Stimson, G. (2005) UNAIDS & the Prevention of HIV Infection through Injecting Drug Use. Briefing Paper Nine. Oxford: Beckley Foundation .
71.
Transnational Institute (2004) A Pointless War: Drugs and Violence in Brazil. TNI debate papers number 11. Amsterdam: Transnational Institute .
72.
Travis, A. (2005) ‘Revealed: How Drugs War Failed’, The Guardian 5 July.
73.
Vargas, R. (2005) ‘Drugs and Armed Conflict in Colombia’, pp. 193–224 in M. Jelsma , T. Kramer and P. Vervest (eds) Trouble in the Triangle: Opium and Conflict in Burma. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books .
74.
Wacquant, L. (2001) ‘The Penalisation of Poverty and the Rise of Neo-Liberalism’ , European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research9(4): 401–412 .
75.
Warburton, H. , Turnbull, P. J. and Hough, M. (2005) Occasional and Controlled Heroin Use: Not a Problem?York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation .
76.
Weiss, C. H. (1977) ‘Research for Policy's Sake: The Enlightenment Function of Social Research’ , Policy Analysis3: 531–547 .
77.
Welte, J. W. , Zhang, L. N. and Wieczorek, W. F. (2001) ‘The Effects of Substance Use on Specific Types of Criminal Offending in Young Men’ , Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency38(4): 416–438 .
78.
Wilkinson, R. G. (1996) Unhealthy Societies: The Afflictions of Inequality. London: Routledge .
79.
Witton, J. (2003) ‘Evidence and Expediency: Research and Recent UK Drug Policy’, Presentation at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 5 November.
80.
Young, J. (2003) ‘New Labour, Crime Control and Social Exclusion’, pp. 1-32 in R. Matthews and J. Young (eds) The New Politics of Crime and Punishment. Cullompton: Willan Publishing .
81.
Young, J. (2004) ‘Voodoo Criminology and the Numbers Game’, pp. 13–27 in J. Ferrell , K. Hayward , W. Morrison and M. Presdee (eds) Cultural Criminology Unleashed. London: Glasshouse Press .
82.
Young, K. , Ashby, D. , Boaz, A. and Grayson, L. (2002) ‘Social Science and the Evidence-based Policy Movement’ , Social Policy and Society1(3): 215–224 .
