United Kingdom

In 2007's “An Analysis of UK Drug Policy,” a document that was commissioned by the independent UK Drug Policy Commission, researchers Peter Reuter and Alex Stevens conclude that the United Kingdom (UK) has the highest level of drug dependency in Western Europe. Reuter and Stevens also report that the British are among Western Europe's most enthusiastic recreational drug users and that the UK has the second-highest drug-related death rate of all Western European nations.

Marijuana, used by 7.4 percent of the population, is the most widely used illicit drug and has become “normalized” among the youth, at least according to Howard Parker and his associates. Cocaine (used by 2.3 percent of the population), ecstasy (1.5 percent), opiates such as heroin (1.3 percent), and amphetamine-type stimulants (1.0 percent) are also popular illicit drugs.

The document's sobering conclusions are surprising given the British government's persistent efforts to control drug misuse and distribution throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. While prior to 1970, some drug policy was in place, the government stepped up its regulation of the use of psychoactive substances with enactment of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (MDA).

The official reasons given for the introduction and development of the MDA were twofold. First, it was said to help fulfill the UK's commitment to the several international treaties it had ratified, such as the United Nations (UN) Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961) and the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971). Second, it was part of the government's attempt to develop a strong overarching national drug strategy designed to address the increasing prevalence and persistence of drug use and drug dependency in British society.

Indeed, the MDA is said to be fundamental to the development of late 20th and early 21st-century British drug policy. The act establishes a three-tier drug classification system that ranges from Class A to Class C drugs. Class A drugs are defined as those that are seen to be posing the most significant harm to society and to an individual's health.

Therefore, the unlawful possession or distribution of a Class A drug is punished much more harshly than the possession or distribution of a Class C drug, which is considered to be the least harmful to a user's health or to society. To this day, the MDA's drug classification system continues to be used in the control and punishment of the misuse and supply of illegal substances.

Reuter and Steven's report is important because it shows that up to 2007, the drug strategy pursued by the British government was not significantly effective in reducing the misuse of drugs and their illegal distribution. In response to concerns about and criticism of the government's past drug strategies, in 2008 it developed the 2008–18 Drug Strategy Plan. The 2008 plan is based on the revised and updated 1998 Ten Year Drug Strategy Plan. The goals of the 1998 Plan had been threefold: to reduce Class A drug use among UK citizens under the age of 25; to address the detrimental health effects of drug misuse; and to decrease drug-related offending—so-called trigger offenses. Trigger offenses are defined as crimes that support or are related to a person's drug addiction, among which are theft, robbery, burglary, aggravated burglary, aggravated vehicle taking, handling stolen goods, fraud, or possession of a controlled drug.

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