0 This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. 0 1 Doing Drugs Policy: Narratives of Participation in the Development of a Critical Drug Theory Anna Ross PhD, Sociology The University of Edinburgh 2020 1 2 Declaration I declare that this thesis was composed by myself, that the work contained herein is my own except where explicitly stated otherwise in the text, and that this work has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification except as specified. Part of this work (a shortened version of chapter 7) has been published as Ross, A. (2020) Drug Users as Stakeholders in Drug Policy. In Buxton, J. Burger, L., Margo, G. (Ed’s) ‘The Impact of Global Drug Policy on Women: Shifting the Needle’, Emerald Publishing. A small percentage (2%) of the work is taken from different academic submissions to the University of Edinburgh. These submissions were a dissertation for an LLB with Honours entitled ‘The Criminalisation of Recreational Drug Users: Questions of risk and morality (2008), and ‘Analysing Qualitative Data Course Assessment (2017), for a course taken during the PhD. Name: Anna Ross Signed: Date: 27 June 2020 2 3 Abstract/Lay Summary Introduction It is a well-documented and a historical fact that human beings have ingested certain substances in order to change their perceptions of reality for centuries, if not millennia (RSA, 2007; Nutt, 2015; Bancroft, 2009, ch.2; Bennet & Holloway, 2010, ch.2). However, it was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that a serious effort was made to outlaw certain drugs for use other than medical, through international and national conventions and frameworks. The regulation of certain drugs has resulted in a policy framework to manage the governance of drug policy interventions, and it is the development of this framework, and participation of drug consumers (policy stakeholders) within this framework that the thesis explores, and critiques. Methods Using interpretive policy analysis as an overarching research design, the thesis explores and critiques the development of the concept of ‘problem drug use’, and seeks to unpick this concept using Carol Bacchis ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be’ (WPR) approach (Bacchi, 2009). In doing so it highlights the master narratives framing both drug use, and drug user participation within policy development, in Scotland. Furthermore, as a result of using the WPR approach to analyse the data, a new critical theory entitled critical drug theory (CDT) is developed. This theory sits alongside other critical theories such as critical race theory, by focussing on the narratives of silenced or marginalised. Results The narratives surrounding drug use define the process by which the participation of stakeholders is incorporated into policy making. More specifically, the narratives of drug harm and the medico/legal structures which surround problematic drug use mean that participation is focused on a small section of the drug using population, namely problematic drug users. This focus is, in part, a result of systemic narratives that have been used to justify policies and practices which disproportionately affect those whose ethnicity, social class, gender, religious, ideological and political viewpoints do not fit into the dominant narrative. Critical drug theory is grounded in critical thought with the underlying premise that the foundations of drug policy, national and international, are based on ideological reasoning that is often used to suppress and silence those who seek to challenge the status quo. Subjecting policies to critique and critical evaluation, such as research into the impact drug laws have on individuals and society (as opposed to the impact drug use has), should be advocated, along with public engagement on the complexity of drug use, pleasure and harm. 3 4 Table of Contents Prologue: Reflections of a Drug User: Coming Out and Coming Here 12 PART ONE 18 PREPARING THE GROUND Chapter 1: Setting the Scene: Politics and Policy 20 History and Context of Drug Policy in the UK 20 Political and Policy Background: Who Makes the Policy? 22 Scottish Drug Policy Governance: Shifting Landscapes – 2012 to 2018 27 Issues with the Formation of Drug Policy Evidence and the use of ‘Experts’ 31 Chapter 2: Setting the Scene: Narrative and Meaning in Policy 33 Background Knowledge and the ‘Situated Knower’ 33 Narrative Habitus 35 Positionality: To talk about me or to not talk about me, that is the question 37 Using Dialogical Meaning to Create Meaningful Dialogue 38 Exploring the Role of Narrative in Research 41 Stories in Policy: The Personal is Political 45 The Research Gap and the Research Design 47 Research Questions 51 Summary 52 Chapter 3: There are Methods to this Madness 53 Data Collection 55 Data Analysis 70 Summary 80 PART TWO 81 HISTORICAL LEGACIES Introduction 82 The Development of Narratives in Scottish Drug Policy 82 The Representation of the Problem 83 Chapter 4: The Heroin Years 85 4 5 Chapter 5: The Intervening Years: Developing the Narrative of Harm, Silencing the Narrative of Pleasure 95 Chapter 6: The Road to Recovery and Beyond 108 The Road to Recovery - Consensus or Competing Narratives 109 Delivering Reform 110 Shifts in Narrative 114 Summary 117 PART THREE 120 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FIELD OF KNOWLEDGE Chapter 7: Stakeholder Participation in Drug Policy 121 Introduction 121 From ‘Evidence-led Policy’ to Stakeholder Participation 122 The Lived and Living Experience Executive Group (LLEEG): 126 The ‘Official’ Way to Engage 126 The Scottish Drugs Policy Conversations (SDPC): The Professional Stakeholders 134 Medicinal Cannabis Reform Scotland (MCRS): The Sick Stakeholders 141 Analysis of Narratives using WPR Approach 146 Summary 157 Chapter 8: Developing a Critical Drug Theory 159 Introduction 159 From Racism to Drugs Consumption 160 Developing a Critical Drug Theory 161 What is Critical Drug Theory? 165 Counter-narrative and Meta-narratives in CRT and CDT 172 Summary 174 Chapter 9: Exploring the Narratives 175 Historical Legacies 176 Stakeholder Participation in Drug Policy 184 Summary 202 Chapter 10: Conclusion 204 Doing Drugs Policy: In Brief 204 Summary of Research Findings 205 5 6 My Journey through the Thesis 213 References 216 Appendix 1: Lists and Reports 237 Appendix 2: Summary of SDPC sessions 242 Appendix 3: Respectful Dialogue 254 Appendix 4: The Right to Choose 255 Index of Diagrams Diagram 1 – Hermeneutic Spiral Research Design 45 Diagram 2 – Methods 50 Diagram 3 – Data Collection and Analysis 51 Diagram 4 – Analytical Method 67 Diagram 5 – The Development of CDT 71 Diagram 6 – The Vertical and Horizontal Dimensions of Policy 137 Diagram 7 – The Hidden Stakeholders 197 Index of Photos Kenny Simpson memorial card 9 Leonel Cardoso 12 Photo Crew 2000 frontage. 13 Article of the opening of Crew 2000. 14 Beginning the Process of Analysis and Writing. 69 Me at the age of 20– some afterparty. 94 Scanned poster I kept from demonstrations. 94 Thatcher’s War on Acid House. 95 Picture taken 1999 at an after party 96 Shaken, stirred…or just plain shit faced 97 MCRS Cross party group meeting 142 6 7 7 8 This thesis is dedicated to Kenny Simpson. “I never judge anybody on how they are presented, everybody’s got their stories to tell, I just don’t think there is acknowledgment of that. I think there needs to be more of a caring agenda and common sense approach to drugs.” 8 9 Obituary written by myself for Kenny Simpson for SDPC website: Kenny Simpson worked for the police most of his life, latterly as a civilian running the Statement of Opinion Unit for Police Scotland. He was a champion for sensible drug policy and increasing dialogue and trust between the different institutions and communities responsible for drug policy in Scotland. He represented the middle ground – not pro legalisation but keen to see reform in order to improve the lives of problematic substance users in Scotland. I knew Kenny for a short time, but what I did know of him I enjoyed immensely. Kenny was a participant of the Scottish Drug Policy Conversations since its inception, and always provided a balanced, thoughtful but passionate voice on a range of drug policy issues. I recently interviewed him for my research on narratives within Scottish drug policy communities. Kenny was passionate about leaving a legacy and making sure there was an institutional memory about the changes in drug policy. “You know one day I’ll drop off the radar, I’ll probably go and do something drug related somewhere, but you know who becomes the go to person?” In recent years Kenny was involved in many different groups and often spoke at debates on drug policy. He was not an advocate of legalisation but only because he thought it hid the real issue which is opiate abuse: “But see the whole legalisation issue for me, that’s a backburner. For me there’s wider issues than legalising it. You’re never going to legalise heroin ever, and heroin’s the issue. And I’ve said that to Mike (from SDPC), I’m fed up with the Police looking at other things when we’ve got people dying.