White Drug Cultures and Regulation in London, 1916–1960

This book traces the history of the London 'white drugs' (opiate and cocaine) subculture from the First World War to the end of the classic 'British System' of drug prescribing in the 1960s. It also examines the regulatory forces that tried to suppress non-medical drug use, in both their medical and juridical forms. Drugs subcultures were previously thought to have begun as part of the post-war youth culture, but in fact they existed from at least the 1930s. In this book, two networks of drug users are explored, one emerging from the disaffected youth of the aristocracy, the other from the night-time economy of London's West End. Their drug use was caught up in a kind of dance whose steps represented cultural conflicts over identity and the modernism and Victorianism that coexisted in interwar Britain.-- Provided by publisher Front Matter ....Pages i-viii Introduction (Christopher Hallam)....Pages 1-15 From Injudicious Prescribing to the Script Doctor: Transgressive Addiction Treatment in the Interwar Years (Christopher Hallam)....Pages 17-48 The Chelsea Network and White Drug Use in the 1930s (Christopher Hallam)....Pages 49-76 Heroin and the West End Life, c.1935–c.1938 (Christopher Hallam)....Pages 77-100 The Regulation of Opiates Under the Classic British System, c.1920–c.1945 (Christopher Hallam)....Pages 101-128 The Royal College of Physicians Committee on Drug Addiction, c.1938–c.1947 (Christopher Hallam)....Pages 129-154 Morphine and Morale: The British System and the Second World War (Christopher Hallam)....Pages 155-179 Postwar Britain: Subcultural Transitions and Transmissions (Christopher Hallam)....Pages 181-209 Concluding Themes (Christopher Hallam)....Pages 211-218 Back Matter ....Pages 219-249 "This book traces the history of the London 'white drugs' (opiate and cocaine) subculture from the First World War to the end of the classic 'British System' of drug prescribing in the 1960s. It also examines the regulatory forces that tried to suppress non-medical drug use, in both their medical and juridical forms. Drug subcultures were previously thought to have begun as part of the post-war youth culture, but in fact they existed from at least the 1930s. In this book, two networks of drug users are explored, one emerging from the disaffected youth of the aristocracy, the other from the night-time economy of London's West End. Their drug use was caught up in a kind of dance whose steps represented cultural conflicts over identity and the modernism and Victorianism that coexisted in interwar Britain"--Back cover