First published in 1989, Drugs and British Society (now with a new preface by Susanne MacGregor) provides information on the drugs problem in Britain in the 1980s, based on extensive research and experience, and places it in its international and historical context. The contributors to this book are all experts in this field, and are drawn from a range of disciplines, including epidemiology, sociology, social psychiatry, social policy, anthropology, and history. They share a social rather than a narrowly medical or individualistic perspective on drugs, stressing that policy and practice about drugs must be based not on prejudice, alarm or outdated ideas, but on clear, reliable and detailed evidence and the informed judgements of people who have a thorough understanding of the issues. They explain the problem by referring it to its social and political context, from the level of the local community and local services to the wider national and structural levels.