The Shetland Heroin Scene from a Historical Perspective: Five Distinct Eras

Abstract

The five different eras of the heroin scene – chronologically named – are here referred to as the EARLY DAYS, the ERA OF THE OLD SCHOOL, the CONTAINED COMMERCIALISATION, the COMMERCIAL PEAK and the CURRENT FRAGMENTATION. Many interviewees seem to further differentiate between the principally ‘good old’ and ‘bad new times’. The turning point between good and bad, participants describe to have occurred around the commercial peak. It seems many interviewees share the perception that before the commercial peak, the conditions concerning the heroin scene were ‘good’, and afterwards ‘bad’. A black-and-white judgement of this kind might not solely be based on reason but also irrational, emotional factors. The circumstances of the commercial peak and the transitional phase beforehand will be systematically analysed at a later stage of this chapter.