Peer pressure and imposed consensus: the making of the 1984 Guidelines of Good Clinical Practice in the Treatment of Drug Misuse.

The role of evidence and "expert" opinion in forming drug treatment policies is explored though the case of the first clinical guidelines on drug misuse (1984). Developed to secure the ascendancy of one particular treatment model and impose this on all doctors, they cited no supporting research evidence. The experience of an expert committee was deemed sufficient by many of those involved for determining "good practice". This chapter considers the motives and alliances of the different factions of the state and medical profession responsible for the guidelines and how each succeeded or failed in achieving their goals.