Disorder by Design—What Now?
摘要
This final chapter argues that the failures of UK drug policy are not accidental but structurally produced—a disorder by design. It synthesises the book’s central findings to show how political interests, media narratives, and moral panics consistently override scientific evidence, resulting in a system that perpetuates harm rather than reducing it. The chapter demonstrates how the selective criminalisation of certain drugs, and of the people who use them, reinforces class and racial inequalities while protecting functional users, corporate interests, and the alcohol industry. It highlights how evidence-based reforms have repeatedly been sidelined, from the dismissal of scientific advisors to the marginalisation of harm-reduction models. Ultimately, the chapter contends that meaningful reform requires acknowledging that the current system operates exactly as intended: to regulate morality, maintain social hierarchies, and obscure the state’s complicity in producing drug-related harm. Only by exposing this design can a just, health-focused, and evidence-led drug policy emerge.