RELEASE: Legal

History of UK Drugs and UK Drug Laws

Drugs have been used on a widespread basis since the beginning of the modern period. In the 19th century, opium, morphine, cocaine and cannabis were all used by millions of people in Europe, America, Asia and Africa. None of these drugs were illegal at that time. In most countries, including the UK, opium could be purchased from the local apothecary or chemist, or even by the penny-worth in the local grocer's shop.

In the second half of the 19th century, the forces that would eventually lead to the establishment of drug prohibition began to appear and to lobby governments to enact laws against drug use.

These forces included:

A Public Health Campaign

The first UK law to seek to regulate drugs was the 1868 Pharmacy Act. This legislation was driven by concerns about cases of poisoning with drugs, either through accident or by intention.

At the time powerful drugs such as opium, morphine and cocaine were contained in numerous household remedies, and opium was employed by childminders in keeping children quiet and passive.

The pharmacy legislation was aimed primarily at preventing these problems, rather than stopping drug-taking for pleasure. However, the campaign later sounded the alarm in relation to what it claimed was extensive 'luxurious' or recreational use of opium and chloral hydrate (a sedative) by the working classes.

As the twentieth century approached, the relatively tolerant attitude to drug taking(which had been widespread when Thomas De Quincey's 'Confession of an English Opium-Eater'appeared in 1821) began to be replaced by disapproval.

The Temperance Movement:

Emerging in both Britain and the United States, the original focus of this religiously inspired movement was the banning of alcohol. Later, the target was expanded to include other drugs. The anti-opium component of the temperance movement was closely bound up with the British opium trade, which will be discussed below.

Many of the doctors and psychiatrists who started the specialism of drug treatment were prominent figures in the temperance movement. The 'disease' model of drug use was built upon the moral foundations of temperance, and featured an essentially moral judgement recast in terms that appeared 'scientific'. It is still possible to discern the moral elements of temperance ideology in contemporary drug treatment, drug policy and the laws devised to control drug-taking. Many opponents of drug law reform still believe that to take drugs is somehow simply 'wrong' in a moral sense.

Racial and Cultural Prejudice

With the advent of modern means of trade, transport and communication, drugs travelled across the world with the migrant groups who used them. The result was that the fears and prejudices that were directed at foreigners and at the new arrivals would also attach themselves to their preferred drug. Accordingly, in the USA, Australia and, to a lesser extent, the UK, Chinese immigrants found that native people became hostile to the opium that they enjoyed smoking. Later, the identification of ethnic groups with particular drugs meant that American blacks were associated with cocaine, Mexicans with marijuana, and so on down to the contemporary linking of crack cocaine with black urban youth.

In turn, it is impossible to understand racism and racial politics and the ways in which they became linked with drugs without understanding a little of the history of international relations and the power exercised through them.

International and Colonial Politics

The British colonisation of India was extremely important in the history of the drug laws. In British India, opium was grown under British control and exported in enormous quantities to China, generating large revenues for the treasury. At the end of the 19th century, the anti-opium movement (which had grown out of the Temperance Movement) inflamed opinion and guided international efforts to ban the trade. The United States became the global champion of the anti-opium cause, although the moral component of its crusade was certainly supplemented by a desire to establish US trade and commerce at the forefront of potentially very large Chinese markets.Opium Dens in Darkest England

The politics enacted upon the world stage were intimately interwoven with racial stereotypes current in particular countries, regions and localities. A Chinese community had lived in the docklands area of London since the late eighteenth century. Their numbers had increased over the Victorian era with the growth of the Port of London and the trade associated with the Empire, and in 1881 there were some 665. The smoking of opium was practised amongst many of these immigrants, and was accepted in Chinese culture.

The earliest forms of sensational drugs journalism to appear in the British press were those in which intrepid reporters visited the East End, or 'Darkest London'. These accounts were themselves modelled on the travel writing of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, where the first accounts of opium eating emerged. Afavourite topic of these reports was the 'vice' of opium smoking, and no journalistic foray was complete without its visit to an opium den. In reality, this 'den' was generally just the home of one or other Chinese family, where a backroom might serve as a sort of impromptu social club.

As the nineteenth century drew towards a close, the tone of this reporting became increasingly hostile, and sought to emphasise the alleged threats posed by opium and those who attended the opium dens to indulge in the vice of smoking it. The threat took on overtly racial overtones, as evidenced by the statement of a London County Council inspector after a visit to the east end in 1904:

"...Oriental cunning and cruelty was hallmarked on every countenance...Until my visit to the Asiatic Sailors' Home, I had always considered some of the Jewish inhabitants of Whitechapel to be the worst type of humanity I had ever seen."

There were fears raised that the vice of opium would spread like a contagion and infect the local working classes: some saw this as divine judgement visited upon Britain for its involvement in the evils of the Indo-China opium trade.

The situation was paralleled in the United States, where the large Chinese community in San Francisco faced a sustained campaign of hate and hostility.

They became the scapegoats for the economic depression that hit San Francisco in the 1870s, and their 'vile practice' of opium smoking was outlawed within the city limits as early as 1874.

It was in America that the factors outlined here and others including the presence of a small number of highly motivated individuals came together. The result was that the USA would, over the course of the twentieth century, take up the prohibition of drugs as something resembling a crusade.

The International Opium Convention

At meetings at Shanghai in 1909 and at The Hague in the Netherlands in 1912, the United States initiated and pushed through the beginnings of the international drug control system that remains to this day. Although the First World War intervened, the 1912 drug control treaty known by its shorthand name of The Hague Convention went into force as part of the peace treaty signed at Versailles.

>> Introduction


DRUGS THE LAW HUMAN RIGHTS HOME DONATE OUR SERVICES PUBLICATIONS ABOUT RELEASE BUST CARD HELPLINES CONTACT US SHOP NEWS LINKS MEDIA CENTER LEGAL MANUAL VACANCIES CONFERENCES PRIVACY DISCLAIMER	History of UK Drugs and UK Drug Laws Drugs have been used on a widespread basis since the beginning of the modern period. In the 19th century, opium, morphine, cocaine and cannabis were all used by millions of people in Europe, America, Asia and Africa. None of these drugs were illegal at that time. In most countries, including the UK, opium could be purchased from the local apothecary or chemist, or even by the penny-worth in the local grocer's shop. In the second half of the 19th century, the forces that would eventually lead to the establishment of drug prohibition began to appear and to lobby governments to enact laws against drug use. These forces included: A Public Health Campaign The first UK law to seek to regulate drugs was the 1868 Pharmacy Act. This legislation was driven by concerns about cases of poisoning with drugs, either through accident or by intention. At the time powerful drugs such as opium, morphine and cocaine were contained in numerous household remedies, and opium was employed by childminders in keeping children quiet and passive. The pharmacy legislation was aimed primarily at preventing these problems, rather than stopping drug-taking for pleasure. However, the campaign later sounded the alarm in relation to what it claimed was extensive 'luxurious' or recreational use of opium and chloral hydrate (a sedative) by the working classes. As the twentieth century approached, the relatively tolerant attitude to drug taking(which had been widespread when Thomas De Quincey's 'Confession of an English Opium-Eater'appeared in 1821) began to be replaced by disapproval. The Temperance Movement: Emerging in both Britain and the United States, the original focus of this religiously inspired movement was the banning of alcohol. Later, the target was expanded to include other drugs. The anti-opium component of the temperance movement was closely bound up with the British opium trade, which will be discussed below. Many of the doctors and psychiatrists who started the specialism of drug treatment were prominent figures in the temperance movement. The 'disease' model of drug use was built upon the moral foundations of temperance, and featured an essentially moral judgement recast in terms that appeared 'scientific'. It is still possible to discern the moral elements of temperance ideology in contemporary drug treatment, drug policy and the laws devised to control drug-taking. Many opponents of drug law reform still believe that to take drugs is somehow simply 'wrong' in a moral sense. Racial and Cultural Prejudice With the advent of modern means of trade, transport and communication, drugs travelled across the world with the migrant groups who used them. The result was that the fears and prejudices that were directed at foreigners and at the new arrivals would also attach themselves to their preferred drug. Accordingly, in the USA, Australia and, to a lesser extent, the UK, Chinese immigrants found that native people became hostile to the opium that they enjoyed smoking. Later, the identification of ethnic groups with particular drugs meant that American blacks were associated with cocaine, Mexicans with marijuana, and so on down to the contemporary linking of crack cocaine with black urban youth. In turn, it is impossible to understand racism and racial politics and the ways in which they became linked with drugs without understanding a little of the history of international relations and the power exercised through them. International and Colonial Politics The British colonisation of India was extremely important in the history of the drug laws. In British India, opium was grown under British control and exported in enormous quantities to China, generating large revenues for the treasury. At the end of the 19th century, the anti-opium movement (which had grown out of the Temperance Movement) inflamed opinion and guided international efforts to ban the trade. The United States became the global champion of the anti-opium cause, although the moral component of its crusade was certainly supplemented by a desire to establish US trade and commerce at the forefront of potentially very large Chinese markets.Opium Dens in Darkest England The politics enacted upon the world stage were intimately interwoven with racial stereotypes current in particular countries, regions and localities. A Chinese community had lived in the docklands area of London since the late eighteenth century. Their numbers had increased over the Victorian era with the growth of the Port of London and the trade associated with the Empire, and in 1881 there were some 665. The smoking of opium was practised amongst many of these immigrants, and was accepted in Chinese culture. The earliest forms of sensational drugs journalism to appear in the British press were those in which intrepid reporters visited the East End, or 'Darkest London'. These accounts were themselves modelled on the travel writing of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, where the first accounts of opium eating emerged. Afavourite topic of these reports was the 'vice' of opium smoking, and no journalistic foray was complete without its visit to an opium den. In reality, this 'den' was generally just the home of one or other Chinese family, where a backroom might serve as a sort of impromptu social club. As the nineteenth century drew towards a close, the tone of this reporting became increasingly hostile, and sought to emphasise the alleged threats posed by opium and those who attended the opium dens to indulge in the vice of smoking it. The threat took on overtly racial overtones, as evidenced by the statement of a London County Council inspector after a visit to the east end in 1904: "...Oriental cunning and cruelty was hallmarked on every countenance...Until my visit to the Asiatic Sailors' Home, I had always considered some of the Jewish inhabitants of Whitechapel to be the worst type of humanity I had ever seen." There were fears raised that the vice of opium would spread like a contagion and infect the local working classes: some saw this as divine judgement visited upon Britain for its involvement in the evils of the Indo-China opium trade. The situation was paralleled in the United States, where the large Chinese community in San Francisco faced a sustained campaign of hate and hostility. They became the scapegoats for the economic depression that hit San Francisco in the 1870s, and their 'vile practice' of opium smoking was outlawed within the city limits as early as 1874. It was in America that the factors outlined here and others including the presence of a small number of highly motivated individuals came together. The result was that the USA would, over the course of the twentieth century, take up the prohibition of drugs as something resembling a crusade. The International Opium Convention At meetings at Shanghai in 1909 and at The Hague in the Netherlands in 1912, the United States initiated and pushed through the beginnings of the international drug control system that remains to this day. Although the First World War intervened, the 1912 drug control treaty known by its shorthand name of The Hague Convention went into force as part of the peace treaty signed at Versailles. >> Introduction	DRUG FACTS 2CB 2CI alcohol amphetamines cannabis cocaine crack DMT ecstasy GHB heroin ketamine lsd methadone mushrooms nitrites salvia solvents steroids

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