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At Drug Science we like to cover different topics relating to drugs. These topics cover the many different ways that psychoactive substances have an impact on our culture and society.
Controversies in substance misuse in the older person
There are a range of issues facing us in relation to substance misuse in the older person: some are ongoing controversies and...
Drug Science
Nov 10, 20184 min read
The case of the Norwegian teen who died from synthetic cannabinoids
Author: Jon F Olsen Published: September 21, 2018 During the Easter holiday in 2015, 22-year-old Egil André Kvelstad Myhre was found dead...
Jon F Olsen
Sep 21, 20181 min read
ACMD advice on cannabis-derived medicinal products
On 11 September 2018, the ACMD published its Advice to the Home Secretary and to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. It...
Rudi Fortson QC
Sep 11, 20182 min read
Conceptualising a policy framework for the implementation of medical marijuana in the Caribbean territory of Barbados
Authors: Alana DD Griffith, Damian H Cohall Published: September 5, 2018 Unlike the recent global trend of a decline in the prohibition...
Alana Griffith and Damian Cohall
Sep 5, 20181 min read
South Africa decriminalises personal possession of cannabis
Prof David Nutt spent 10 days providing evidence to the South African courts in 2017 – he reflects on South Africa’s positive decision to...
Professor David Nutt
Sep 3, 20181 min read
Class A is no solution to the problem of 'monkey dust'
The recent spate of headlines about the rising use of monkey dust drug in Stoke on Trent has led to calls to it to be made a Class A drug...
Professor David Nutt
Aug 5, 20184 min read
Are the neurocognitive deficits associated with MDMA caused by statistical deficits in ecstasy research? A systematic review
Author: Timothy Amoroso Published: July 24, 2018 There is growing concern that the majority of modern research may be comprised of false...
Timothy Amoroso
Jul 24, 20182 min read
A tale of two moralities: Politicians, doctors, use of addictive substances and lobbying
Alcohol use during the day is common amongst British MPs and Parliamentary staff even when Parliament is in session. MPs are frequently...
Professor David Nutt
Jul 18, 20181 min read
Harm Reduction in Public Policy - the UK and the US – A DrugScience evening reception at the House of Lords
Wednesday 30 May 2018, DrugScience hosted an evening reception at the House of Lords, in partnership with Harm Reduction International....
Drug Science
Jun 5, 20183 min read
Addiction: from basic neuroscience to clinical treatments
This blog piece is a book chapter written by David Nutt from a book on addiction, targeted at Sixth Form and secondary school students...
Professor David Nutt
May 5, 201811 min read
Pharmacies as potential providers of harm reduction services: A preliminary online survey
Background Recreational drug use is a major cause of disease, injury, physical and mental impairment and death in developed countries...
Drug Science
Apr 13, 20182 min read
The early use of MDMA (‘Ecstasy’) in psychotherapy (1977–1985)
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), also known as ecstasy, was first synthesized in 1912 but first reached widespread popularity as...
Drug Science
Apr 11, 20181 min read
New analysis of alcohol and cannabis – what’s the harm?
This blog discusss DrugScience’s latest multi-criterion decision analysis of cannabis and alcohol regulation. Read the open access paper...
Drug Science
Apr 5, 20183 min read
Substance misuse-related poisoning deaths, England and Wales, 1993–2016
Context In recent years there has been an increase in the availability of ‘novel psychoactive substances (NPS)’ or ‘legal highs’. In...
Drug Science
Apr 3, 20182 min read
A multi-criterion decision analysis applied to alcohol and cannabis regulation
Authors: Ole Rogeberg, Daniel Bergsvik, Lawrence D. Phillips, Jan van Amsterdam, Niamh Eastwood, Graeme Henderson, Micheal Lynskey, Fiona...
Dr Anne Schlag, Professor David Nutt and more
Feb 11, 20182 min read
An effective hangover treatment: Friend or foe?
Background The purpose of this study was to examine whether drinkers would change their alcohol consumption behavior if an effective...
Drug Science
Nov 17, 20172 min read
My dead daughter's shoes
This blog piece was originally a speech delivered by Anne-Marie Cockburn at the Nordic Reform Conference 2017 Hello, I am Martha’s mum. I...
Anne-Marie Cockburn
Nov 5, 20175 min read
No laughing matter: how the anti-nitrous oxide campaign is a waste of time and money
Nitrous oxide has returned to our headlines – last month two possession with intent to supply Crown Court cases collapsed and this week...
Oli Stevens
Oct 5, 20175 min read
A fentanyl future?
Today’s report of over 60 deaths last year in which fentanyl was implicated raises major alarm bells in the opioid treatment community....
Drug Science
Aug 5, 20173 min read
Psychedelic drug use in healthy individuals: A review of benefits, costs, and implications for drug policy
The potential of psychedelic drugs in the treatment of mental health problems is increasingly being recognized. However, relatively little t
Drug Science
Jul 26, 20171 min read
Specific harm reduction strategies employed by MDMA/ecstasy users in the United States and the United Kingdom
Both recreational and problematic 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)/ecstasy users could benefit from employing harm reduction...
Drug Science
May 29, 20171 min read
WHO and UNDP change in leadership: What views on drug policy and harm reduction?
The UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs held in April 2016 has been organized by the international drug control entities, but...
Drug Science
May 4, 20171 min read
Recreational MDMA testing - a European perspective
As the United States experiences an overwhelming opioid crisis; as the world’s press is flooded with extra-judicial killings targeting...
Drug Science
Feb 5, 20178 min read
THCv - an abject cop-out from the ACMD, another research opportunity for the UK lost
The cannabis plant produces over 100 compounds with therapeutic potential. Most of these have never been properly studied because of the...
Drug Science
Jan 24, 20174 min read
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