Drugs and criminalisation in Britain, c.1815–c.2000

Burgess, Nicholas (2026) Drugs and criminalisation in Britain, c.1815–c.2000. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis is a systematic analysis of the relationship between British drug laws and conceptions of legitimate criminalisation from c.1815 to c.2000. It explores the extent to which historical understandings of what and who can be treated as criminal or requiring regulation, how this should be done, and how this can be justified, were in synergy or tension with the contemporaneous legislation variously regulating, by way of punitive sanctions, substances used for their psychoactive effects.

Part One examines the period from the early nineteenth century to around the outbreak of the First World War, tracing the origins of drug criminalisation to Victorian concerns about criminal and accidental poisonings and pharmaceutical regulation, and analysing these against the growth of the Victorian legislative state. Also discussed here are statutes targeting ‘habitual drunkards’ and ‘inebriates’, and the opium suppression movement of the turn of the century. Part Two explores the period from the First World War to c.1960, looking at how the transnational aspects of drug control were constructed alongside domestic controls. These changes are considered through the lens of broader contemporaneous criminal laws and debates about criminalisation. Finally, Part Three focuses on the period c.1960 to the turn of the century, which is when the present system of British drug control was created and (re)shaped. Points of discussion include the enactment of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and the various end-of-century drug policy developments, which are situated against contemporaneous developments in criminal law theory, changes to the processes of law reform, and wider criminal justice policies.

Across the whole timeframe considered, there are clear examples of both synergy and tension between drug legislation and contemporaneous conceptions of legitimate criminalisation. More often than not, the findings are more nuanced, with competing justificatory rationales pulling in different directions. Notwithstanding this complexity, it is argued that drug laws have been more central to the development of the criminal law than has been recognised, and are a window into understanding broader patterns and processes of criminalisation and the substantive criminal law.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Supported by funding from the University of Glasgow College of Social Sciences.
• Subjects: K Law > K Law (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Funder's Name: University of Glasgow College of Social Sciences
• Supervisor's Name: Chalmers, Professor James, Mcpherson, Dr. Rachel and Farmer, Professor Lindsay
• Date of Award: 2026
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2026-85690
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 16 Jan 2026 10:31
• Last Modified: 16 Jan 2026 10:33
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85690
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85690