In the early eighties the outbreak of a heroin ‘epidemic’in major cities around the United Kingdom caused considerable fear and anxiety amongst parents, professionals and politicians. Initially, it largely concerned socially dislocated unemployed males usually between 17-25 years old. At the time, it was thought that this new social problem would eventually disappear. However, the past fifteen years have provided strong evidence that drug taking is very much here to stay. Indeed, there have been considerable developments in the form and nature of drug taking. Unlike the early eighties,