Policing drugs in rural Scotland: an exploration of policing practices at the intersection between environmental demands and technological development.

• In Event: POL Panel 13. Rural and Community Policing

Abstract

Rural areas have historically been associated with remoteness and difficult access, which when presented in the context of drug markets, have been described as areas with little drug trafficking (Stenbacka, 2022). Nonetheless, emerging research is pointing out that remote areas in Scotland are experiencing an unexpectedly high volume of incoming drug parcels (Matthews et al., 2021). Although we are now starting to learn more about the drug market, there is very little research out there on the factors that have led to such changes in recent years.

In Scotland, the use of certain drugs such as cocaine and cannabis, is illegal, which means that acts such as possession and supply are prosecutable offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. As an illegal economy, trying to understand the context of drug markets and its recent changes in rural areas cannot happen in isolation of understanding the kinds of power that law enforcement has over the market. In other words, in order to understand changes in rural drug markets it is important to observe the relationship between drug access and policing as well as the kinds of policing practices used to curtail such access.

In this presentation I aim to provide a picture of the different forms of drug supply and access to drugs that currently exist in the northern part of Scotland. I will be discussing the picture of current drug markets through the perspective of policing of drugs, and thus outline the current policing practices and narratives that Police Scotland use. I will also be discussing policing challenges and opportunities while providing an answer to questions such as: what aims do Police Scotland have when policing drug markets? and “in what ways does police affect drug access and drug supply in rural areas of Scotland?”

Author

• Oana Petcu, University of Glasgow & University of Edinburgh