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Introduction

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County Lines

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Abstract

This is a book about human agency and exploitation in illicit drugs markets, told through the voices and experiences of drug market actors. Illicit drugs are big business and an even bigger public health problem. Drug addiction has changed or claimed countless lives. The global war on drugs has transformed criminal justice systems and the social fabric of communities. Drug money has bankrolled armed conflict, terrorism, political campaigns and revolutions. In some contexts, the illegal drug economy is the only economy that matters.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs introduced four schedules of controlled drugs and was followed in the UK by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, with drugs categorised in classes A, B, or C according to perceived harm and therapeutic value. Class A is the category which attracts the most severe penalties for possession, supply and trafficking. The Misuse of Drugs Act, with amendments, is still the main law regulating drug use in Britain.

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McLean, R., Robinson, G., Densley, J.A. (2020). Introduction. In: County Lines. SpringerBriefs in Criminology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33362-1_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33362-1_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-33361-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-33362-1

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