Drugs Uncovered:
Observer Special Supplement
The Uncovered
Poll
Revealed:
Britain's Drug Habit
Time To Be Adult
About Drugs
Boom or Bust?
Boom or bust?
Attitudes towards drugs have relaxed in the past decade, but, asks Mark Kohn, is this liberation or defeatism?
The facts
The knowledge
The catch-all 'drugs' describes a wide range of illegal substances on the street. Here's the lowdown on what's easily available across the country, and what effect they could have on you.
So
how much do children know?
In the pop charts, in the playground, on every street corner, drugs are
openly discussed. Here's what is said.
100
years of altered states
From cocaine in Coca-Cola in 1902 to toking Royals in 2002: we trace the
drugs timeline over the past century.
Street market
Drugstore Britain
How easy is it to 'score' in Britain today? We gave Martin Deeson a wish list of illegal drugs and sent him shopping in three urban centres and one rural backwater.
But
what's in the drugs?
Sweetener, stone and even ground glass were found in the drugs tested by
forensic scientist Jim Campbell.
Cocaine
nation
Simply everyone's taking cocaine. Once the champagne of illegal
substances, it's now the classless Class A drug. But 'doing Charlie' comes
with huge physical risks, reveals Sylvia Patterson.
Drugs' experiences
Tales of experience
Instead of a doctor's guidance, illegal drug users rely on the first-hand accounts of peers. But some sources are wiser than others, finds Carl Wilkinson.
My
drugs
Drug users give their first-hand accounts of the highs and lows of taking
illegal substances.
Staying clean
Can you kick it?
Perhaps. While some experts talk of an addictive personality and others argue addiction is a myth, Caroline, Naomi and Giles tell Martin Bright of their struggle to beat the habit.
Who profits?
Class A capitalists
Illegal drugs sustain a huge global industry, with a highly efficient international supply chain. Faisal Islam reveals who reaps the profits.
Deadly
cargo
The luxury yachts smuggling cocaine into southern Spain are a key part of
the drug's route to Britain. But the glitzy surroundings veil a trade run
by hardened British criminals, writes Tony Thompson.
The future....
Feed your brain
Most people take illegal drugs to get 'high' but some use them to improve their intelligence. Can 'smart drugs' really boost brainpower? Andrew Smith spent a month finding out.
The
next Big High?
Attempts to dodge the Law meet cutting-edge science in new drug fashions,
writes Carl Wilkinson.
From the archive: Observer highlights
The changing debate
Two countries took the drugs test. Who passed?
David Rose reports from Utrecht on how there is no war on drugs in Holland. They believe this is a social problem, not a criminal one. And all the evidence suggests that their policy works.
"The
dealers think they're untouchable now..."
Tony Thompson in Brixton reports on how the law has given dealers a free
hand to sell increasing quantities of drugs, including crack, with
impunity.
The policing debate
Drugs bust-up at the Met
Senior officers are at loggerheads, reports Martin Bright - should they pursue users or switch to softly-softly?
But
there's only one problem. I hate dope
Euan Ferguson went out yesterday to test the new liberal attitude to
cannabis. Buying it was easy, but smoking it made him sick.
A
copper's copper
The Observer Profile: John Stevens
Should the law be changed?
What do we do when the drugs war stops?
Its not just the war on drugs that is failing, says Rowena Young. Drugs treatment fails nine times out of ten too.
Blair 'must scrap failed drug tactics'
Drug
laws revolution set for UK
Cannabis should be decriminalised in an Amsterdam-style revolution on the
streets of Britain, an influential group of MPs will recommend in a
landmark report.
Police
urge major rethink on heroin
Users would take drug in 'shooting galleries' to reduce need to steal, in
proposals backed by the Association of Chief Police Officers.
The
police and hard drugs: the Cleveland report
Softer
drug laws vetoed by Labour
The government is to reject swaths of the seminal Police Foundation report
on the future of British drugs policy because it fears appearing to be
'soft'.
Don't
legalise drugs
Black leaders fear that lifting prohibition will harm their communities,
says Cristina Odone
Legalise
drugs, but tax them too
It's time that we took cannabis, heroin and Ecstasy out of the hands of
the criminals, argues Henry McDonald
Hard drugs epidemic: Observer investigation
Opium of the people
In a prosperous Cotswolds village, Kevin can score heroin within minutes. In David Rose's two-part investigation The Observer reveals the true scale of Britain's hard drug epidemic.
Our
society is hooked ... here's how we can fix it
David Rose - Drugs in Britain special, part two: As the Tories
debate legalisation of soft drugs and Labour grapples with the perceived
link between drugs and crime, a visit to a rehab unit in Oxford reveals
one vital truth - every addict is different.
The
drugs debate: where next?
Practioners and policymakers respond to David Rose's groundbreaking
investigation into class-A drugs in Britain
Drugs education
Drug video's shock tactics 'won't work'
Questions are being asked by drug experts and campaigners: Do the shock tactics help? Or could they even be counter-productive?
Mary Riddell: Every mother's worst nightmare
The
drug tests don't work
Viv Evans of Drugscope says Eton's approach to drugs exemplifies
how schools and teachers get it wrong, and fail to give young people the
informed advice they want.
Ecstasy
Comedown - the ecstasy fallout
Britain's half-million pill-poppers could face after-effects that last a lifetime. Anthony Browne reports.
Out
of control or just growing up?
Harry's peers give the verdict on drugs, drink and teenagers.
We
can't know the dangers
Your letters on esctasy.
Global perspectives
Business as usual for Afghan drugs
Afghanistan is likely to retain a central role in the global drugs trade, argues Mark Galeotti in this World Today essay. But even a miracle of western statecraft would only lead to Afghanistan's impoverished neighbours seizing a greater share of this lucrative trade.
It's
not only the west that suffers
Afghanistan is the source of most of the west's heroin. But even greater
supplies are devastating the local region, says Ustina Markus, and
the damage will get worse unless the international community acts.
How
global battle against drugs risks backfiring
The international war on narcotics is going awry. Chemical spraying of
coca bushes is poisoning Colombian villages, while failure to back Afghan
rulers could actually boost the heroin trade. By Hugh O'Shaughnessy in
Bogota.
Complete Series:
Drugs Uncovered: Observer Special
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