Women, drug control and the law

Legal regulation of drugs in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has tended to centre on the criminalization of the production, supply, possession, purchase, use and abuse of drugs, in which women and men are generally treated similarly. Women have, however, received differential legal treatment in the context of their role as mothers, where drug use can result in what may be considered the ultimate sanction against drug use for a woman: the loss of custody of a child vis-à-vis another parent or guardian, an adopter or even the State. Even drug use prior to the birth of the child can be relevant.