... a radical programme in economic and social policy' (Barton, 2003: 23). The changes in parliament in the early 1980's led to record levels of unemployment, urban decay, crime and social dislocation. It is apparent that drug culture and the government's reaction to it changed in the 1980's and 1990's and there are a number of reasons for this change. Firstly, problematic drug use continued to rise despite domestic and international attempts by the government to control it. Secondly, increased use of heroin (especially intravenous use) in the early 1980's created a public health concern over the transmission of HIV and AIDS. Thirdly, the rise in popularity of dance music saw an increasing use of recreational drugs by large numbers of young people (also known as 'rave' or 'club' culture). According to Gilman (1999) a further contributory factor relating to this issue was that drug culture itself had changed with the ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now