The regulation of nicotine in the United Kingdom: how nicotine gum came to be a medicine but not a drug

Catriona Rooke

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article explores the utility of actor-network theory (ANT) as a tool for socio-legal research. ANT is deployed in a study of the evolution of divided regulatory responsibility for tobacco and medicinal nicotine (MN) products in the United Kingdom, with a particular focus on how the latter came to be regulated as a medicine. We examine the regulatory decisions taken in the United Kingdom in respect of the first MN product: a nicotine-containing gum developed in Sweden, which became available in the United Kingdom in 1980 as a prescription-only medicine under the Medicines Act 1968. We propose that utilizing ANT to explore the development of nicotine gum and the regulatory decisions taken about it places these decisions into the wider context of ideas about tobacco control and addiction, and helps us to understand better how different material actors acted in different networks, leading to very different systems of regulation.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)39-57
JournalJournal of Law and Society
Volume39
Issue number1
Early online date21 Feb 2012
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2012

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The regulation of nicotine in the United Kingdom: how nicotine gum came to be a medicine but not a drug'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this