‘If you found one of these in your child’s pocket, would you know what it was?’ the Observer asked on 21 October 1973, introducing its guide to that year’s drugs scene, over a picture of a joint and a foil square of heroin. The dossier investigated how drugs reached Britain and the economics of the trade, interviewing users and smugglers. There’s a drug-by-drug layperson’s guide and a startling photo of a row of thriving marijuana plants growing next to a Scotland Yard officer’s desk (to appear in court as evidence, the caption explains).
