The 'drug problem' is getting steadily worse. Convictions for drug offences, number of known addicts and Customs seizures have been rising inexorably for 40 years. So has the number of young people using illegal drugs.

Similar changes are occurring in other countries and the vast international drug trade defies all attempts to suppress it. Yet, remarkably, there is almost no public discussion of current control policies.

This book, written by a multi-disciplinary group of experts, aims to stimulate an informed debate about the possible alternatives to these unsuccessful policies. It describes the historical reason why alcohol and tobacco are legal while heroin and amphetamine are not. It discusses the reasons why people use drugs, the consequences of their doing so and the benefits and limitation of treatment. The authors investigate the lessons to be learnt from previous attempts to curb drug and alcohol use, how the 1.4 billion pounds that the UK Government currently devotes to drug control might be better spent in future, and what would be likely to happen if cannabis, or even heroin, were to be 'legalised'.

There are no easy answers. Read this book and draw your own conclusions.