Experts, expertise and drug policy-making

Over the past two decades, policy-makers have been encouraged to develop evidence-based policies in collaboration with experts. Drug policy is unique since it has an established inbuilt mechanism for soliciting expertise via the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs. Increasingly alternative mechanisms have been used. Based upon detailed analysis of two case studies of drug policy-making using alternative methods to solicit expertise, we argue that the framing of the policy problem, the mechanisms used to involve experts and the type of evidence actively sought have continued to marginalise the involvement of the drug user in policy-making.