Positive thinking

Ian Hamilton, University of York and Niamh Eastwood, Middlesex University Once a year we get a glimpse of how many people are using drugs such as heroin and cocaine in England and Wales. The Home Office conducts an annual household survey that asks people if they have used drugs and, if they have, to provide some details about which drugs and how often they have consumed them. For the fourth year in a row, overall drug use has risen. An interesting fact on its own, but as always, the devil is in the detail. Class A drugs including cocaine are proving to be popular, second only to cannabis in popularity. Nearly a million people now report using the drug. Fewer people report using opiates, such as heroin – but this is largely due to limitations of the survey which, as a household exercise, will not pick up certain groups, such as the homeless or other transient populations. Equally, the survey will not capture the experience of students – another important cohort. ...

Ian Hamilton, University of York and Suzi Gage, University of Liverpool British home secretary, Sajid Javid, linked middle-class cocaine use with the recent increase in violent crime , especially among young people. During his speech at the Conservative party conference, Javid announced that the Home Office will conduct a full review of drug buyers and sellers, including professionals such as City workers. The review is welcome, but it exposes one of many problems with making bold statements such as Javid’s: that we currently know surprisingly little about the social class of people who use drugs. And although there are links between drugs and crime, there is little evidence to support a link between middle-class drug use and the rise in violent crime, such as that involving knives. While victims and perpetrators of knife crime may well have been using or dealing drugs, some reports suggest that outbreaks of violence are often triggered by social media disputes and p...