Policing Drugs

First published in 1998, this influential volume develops previous research by the author and explores issues and solutions regarding the roles of law enforcement, drug referral and official and media reactions. Section one analyzes the rationale for drug enforcement and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of four main approaches. It looks at the pressure on the police to take action in local drugs markets, particularly within a context where the police emphasize their responsiveness to public demands in a more "consumerist" age. Section two examines welfarist policies directed towards drug users and minor drug offenders. Section 3 focuses on the media and coverage of crack-cocaine and ecstasy in the 1990s - particularly where these have been based upon police briefings and reports.

This book reveals how drug squads work and the consequences of drug busting.

This book fills a void in the literature by examining from a scientific perspective the official police response to drugs, drug use, abuse, and dealing and how the different levels of police agencies process drug cases. Current drug texts simply do not address the drug problem from a criminal justice or criminological perspective in a clear, consistent fashion. At the beginning of each chapter, a series of critical thinking questions is provided. Throughout each chapter, a series of tables, figures, and charts are used to illustrate themes considered. With these items, critical thinking questions are included below each respective item. The text also makes use of Internet technology, inasmuch as students are referred to recommended Internet sites throughout each chapter. Many of these Internet sites deal with pharmacological and biological aspects of drug use. Three unique pedagogical features of the book will help students learn various drug-related issues. First, a box insert titled 'In the Streets' appears in each chapter that includes a discussion about some aspects of drug use related to the chapter's focus. A second box titled 'Tabloid Justice' also appears in each chapter discussing a particular celebrity's battles with drug abuse as it was considered in the press. A third box, 'Drugs and Research,' in each chapter highlights a specific drug study that should be of interest to students. This book will appeal to a number of criminal justice, criminology, and sociology program courses on drug abuse. Professionals interested in learning more about the criminal justice response to the drug problem, as well as police academies may also find the book useful.

Delving behind Canada’s veneer of multiculturalism and tolerance, Policing Black Lives traces the violent realities of anti-blackness from the slave ships to prisons, classrooms and beyond. Robyn Maynard provides readers with the first comprehensive account of nearly four hundred years of state-sanctioned surveillance, criminalization and punishment of Black lives in Canada. While highlighting the ubiquity of Black resistance, Policing Black Lives traces the still-living legacy of slavery across multiple institutions, shedding light on the state’s role in perpetuating contemporary Black poverty and unemployment, racial profiling, law enforcement violence, incarceration, immigration detention, deportation, exploitative migrant labour practices, disproportionate child removal and low graduation rates. Emerging from a critical race feminist framework that insists that all Black lives matter, Maynard’s intersectional approach to anti-Black racism addresses the unique and understudied impacts of state violence as it is experienced by Black women, Black people with disabilities, as well as queer, trans, and undocumented Black communities. A call-to-action, Policing Black Lives urges readers to work toward dismantling structures of racial domination and re-imagining a more just society.

This book comprises of fourteen specially commissioned essays on the theme of drug abuse and the control of drug use in Britain. It analyses and appraises the two strands of that which has been termed the 'British system' of control, namely, prescription to, and rehabilitation of, registered users and enforcement action against illegal users. It also examines issues of contemporary relevance in the drug control debate, including the economics of drug control, drug education, the impact of AIDS, new trends in legislation and decriminalisation.

The County Lines phenomenon has become one of the most significant drug market developments in the UK over recent years. This book analyses how it is being responded to by the police in affected provincial areas. Drawing on unique ethnographic fieldwork, it takes readers into police stations and out onto the streets with officers, providing timely insight into the policing of this high profile and challenging drug market context. The book considers the use of new police tactics that have been proposed and familiar methods that officers regularly embarked on. Through a sophisticated theoretical framework it argues that the policing of County Lines can often be considered ‘symbolic’, with concerns regularly placed on sending out strong messages that appear superficial when closely examined. Alongside this, however, there appears to be a progressive shift towards a more pragmatic drugs policing approach that embraces harm reduction principles.This cutting-edge research speaks to academics in Criminology and Policing, and to practitioners and policy makers.

In More Harm Than Good, Carter, Boyd and MacPherson take a critical look at the current state of Canadian drug policy and raise key questions about the effects of Canada’s increasing involvement in and commitment to the “war on drugs.” A primer on Canadian drug policy, the analysis in More Harm Than Good is shaped by critical sociology and feminist perspectives on drugs and incorporates insights not only from individuals who are on the front lines of drug policy in Canada — treatment and service workers — but also from those who live with the consequences of that policy on a daily basis — people who use criminalized drugs. Finally, the authors propose realistic alternatives to today’s failed policy approach. “Your book really expanded thinking and understanding and had a big influence on students critical and reflective thought. Readings sparked rich conversations about their own hopes and wishes for the field, broader social and political responses and the impact on youth and families affected by substances.” - Stephanie McCune, University of Victoria Please note: an error occurred with the printing of this book, and one of the sidebars was not printed. It is available to download here. We sincerely apologize for this oversight.