About
Retired Civil Servant Home Office 1991-2012 (C5) + Prison Service, Probation Service Directorate Divisions - Home Office Science & Research Group worked directly with Professor Paul Wiles Experienced writer and producer of briefings to Ministers and reports to Government Select Committee Scientific Inquiries for the House of Commons and wider cross Government scientific communities - managed Southport and Formby Drug Dependency Unit with the Consultant Psychiatrist Dr V Ramamurthy 1980 -1991
Featured Work
A transcultural pattern of drug use: qat (khat) in the UK". Published in The British Journal of Psychiatry (Volume 170, Issue 3) in March 1997. The full author credit lists all colleagues: • P. Griffiths • M. Gossop • S. Wickenden • J. Dunworth • K. Harris • C. Lloyd Additionally, I and several colleagues produced the comprehensive Home Office Drugs Prevention Initiative report that came out of that research cycle was published as Home Office Paper #26 under the title "Qat use in London: a study of qat use among a sample of Somalis living in London."
The first systematic, empirical overview of Qat (khat) use within the UK’s Somali community. Prior to this work, British authorities relied primarily on anecdotal reports or assumptions regarding the leaf's consumption, distribution, and cultural role.
The study investigated the patterns, context, and social dynamics of qat consumption among Somali immigrants living in London. By conducting direct, culturally informed field research, I and co-authors mapped out how the plant was imported, who was consuming it, the social settings in which it was used (such as mafrishes), and how the habit integrated into or impacted the community's daily life, employment, and health.
Why the Work Was Important
• Informed Public Policy: findings provided the foundational evidence used by the UK Home Office's Drugs Prevention Initiative. It moved the government away from reactionary policy and toward data-driven decisions regarding minority public health.
• Resisted Premature Criminalization: At a time when there was political pressure to ban the substance, the research demonstrated that qat use was heavily bound by distinct cultural and social norms. It highlighted that it did not mirror the high-stakes criminal infrastructure or severe public disorders associated with illicit Western street drugs.
• Set the Baseline for Decades of Debate: This paper became the primary reference point cited in UK Parliamentary debates and official advisory council (ACMD) reviews for the next 15 years. Every major policy assessment leading up to the UK's eventual 2014 classification of khat relied on the baseline data it established in 1997.
