There are many drug stories that hit headlines all around the world and focus on illegal drugs being a source of many social problems according to political attention trends within society (Maguire, Morgan and Reiner, 2012). Countless theorists debate whether illegal drugs should be legal or illegal as many can help with medical problems such as cancer, anxiety and depression and may not cause as much harm as legal drugs such as caffeine or alcohol (Newburn, 2013). However, illegal drugs can also cause a significant threat to individual’s lives, for instance in the post- Second World War era mainly in the 1960s, which has seen the policy of a gradual criminalisation of drugs (Newburn, 2013).  This meaning that being dependent on drugs can lead to criminal behaviour and misuse and crime rates could possibly be increasing causing chaos within societies. Maguire, Morgan and Reiner, (2012) went to explain that many illegal drugs such as heroin can have a depressant effect on the nervous system and cocaine and caffeine which is legal can have a stimulant effect on the nervous system. Thus, both of these drugs have ‘mild hallucinogenic properties’ (Maguire, Morgan and Reiner, 2012:686). Alternatively, illegal drugs should not be the main focus of attention as many legal drugs can lead to a negative effect on society, for example prescribed drugs can lead individuals to feel dependency and can also lead to misuse (Maguire, Morgan and Reiner, 2012). Furthermore, deaths caused by tobacco or alcohol are much higher than deaths that are related to misuse of illegal drugs. It is not to say that there had been a rise with illegal drugs related deaths in England and Wales during 1993 to 2009 it went from 860 to 2,182 (Ghodse et al, 2010). Moreover, Alcohol related deaths have increased in England and Wales since the World War II and the deaths doubled in 1979 to 2000 from 2,506 to 5,543 which you can see there is a significant difference from both illegal drug related deaths and legal drug deaths (Maguire, Morgan and Reiner, 2012). Throughout this website I will be discussing the affect illegal drugs have on individuals followed by discussing many factors related to the topic such as law, social control, freedom, risk management, and security.