Abstract

Professor Alex Stevens will present the findings of his new book, Drug Policy Constellations: The Role of Power and Morality in the Making of Drug Policy in the UK. This book presents a critical realist approach to understanding the irrationalities and idiosyncrasies of policy making, which may be applicable to other aspects of criminal justice policy and other countries, as well as drug policy in the UK. This policy constellations approach uses ethnography, elite interviews and discourse analysis, combined with social network analysis, to reveal the underlying ethico-political bases of drug policy making. It shows the contesting and overlapping constellations of policy actors and the policies they support. The presentation will show how this helps explain recent developments in UK drug policy, including the limited legalisation of medical cannabis, and the surprising amount of investment in drug treatment provided by the government’s 10-year drug strategy. More information on the book is available at https://drugpolicyconstellations.pubpub.org/