Decrypting the cryptomarkets: Trends over a decade of the Dark Web drug trade

Authors Harjeev Kour Sudan, Andy Man Yeung Tai, Jane Kim and Reinhard Michael Krausz Published November 19, 2023 Introduction The Dark Web is a subsection of the Internet only accessible through specific search engines, making it impossible to trace users. Due to extensive anonymity, the drug trade on the Dark Web makes regulation complicated. We  …


Can ayahuasca reduce inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity? A pilot study

Authors WaiFung Tsang, Simon GD Ruffell, Nigel Netzband, Angelina Jong, James Rucker, Quinton Deeley and Jack Hollingdale Published November 16, 2023 Background The potential benefits of ayahuasca on mental health conditions are well documented. This pilot study is the first to explore whether there is an association with ayahuasca use and reductions in inattention, hyperactivity  …


The impact of over the counter and prescription medication misuse on friends and family

Authors Rosalind Gittins, Roya Vaziri, and Ian Maidment Published November 16, 2023 Introduction Over the counter and prescription-only medication misuse is of concern. Little is known about the impact on friends/family who provide individuals with support. It is important to increase understanding to identify how substance misuse services (SMS) and others can better meet their  …


Today’s ban on 'laughing gas' is wrong - Prof David Nutt

The government’s ban on nitrous oxide comes into force today (Wednesday 8th November, 2023) and possession of the drug is now a criminal act in the United Kingdom. Drug Science’s founder, Professor David Nutt, says: “We believe the ban is wrong. It is completely disproportionate to nitrous oxide’s harms. It will place a new burden  …


Mike Roberts – Medical Cannabis Patient Story

The UK Patient Conference is being held in central London and online, Friday 3 November 2023. It brings together patients, industry, healthcare professionals, charities and members of the public to discuss current issues in the medical cannabis space. Everyone is welcome. Buy a ticket from £5 In the lead up to the event, we are  …


We have launched our new consultancy arm

Founded in 2010 by the neuropsychopharmacologist Professor David Nutt, independent research charity Drug Science is the leading organisation of its kind in the UK — we built a renowned international reputation as thought leaders, particularly around the study of cannabis and psychedelics. Today, we launch Drug Science Consultancy, to provide research advice and consultancy services  …


Sophie Gorman – Medical Cannabis Patient Story

The UK Patient Conference is being held in central London and online, Friday 3 November 2023. It brings together patients, industry, healthcare professionals, charities and members of the public to discuss current issues in the medical cannabis space. Everyone is welcome. Buy a ticket from £5 In the lead up to the event, we are  …


Drug Science Consultancy provides research advice and consultancy services to businesses, governments and other stakeholders on all drug related areas, with particular emphasis on the emerging cannabis and psychedelic medicine markets.

We are a separate, commercially oriented trading arm of the Drug Science charity, and all profits are returned to the charity to support its charitable objectives.

Our Expertise

We have extensive experience across a range of scientific disciplines and research and development approaches. Our team includes experts in epidemiology, quantitative and qualitative methods, pharmacology, neuroscience and neuroimaging, as well as clinical trial design. In addition, we understand the regulatory landscape for cannabis and psychedelics, and we can provide guidance on navigating these complex bureaucratic processes.

Drug Science Consultancy is committed to providing the highest quality research advice and consultancy services. We work with our clients to ensure that their research is well-designed, ethical, and compliant with all relevant regulations. We also provide regular updates on progress and make ourselves available to answer questions.

Collaborations

We are working together with a trusted group of Contract Research Organisations and have established partnerships with the leading academic institutions in the UK as well as a range of external experts globally.

What We Offer

Project Management

Conducting Research

Clinical Trial Development

Communications and Marketing

Our Experts

Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Drug Science, David is the Edmond J. Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology and Head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research, at Imperial College London. One of the world’s leading researchers on drugs, David continues to fight for evidence-based drug policies.

Mike is Chief Medical Officer at Drug Science, a consultant neurologist, as well as Founder Chair of the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society, Chair of the Cannabis Industry Council and Chair of Maple Tree Med Can Consultancy. A global medical cannabis expert, Mike has dedicated his career to the development of neurological rehabilitation and medical cannabis treatments and education.

Michael is Chief Research Officer at Drug Science and has previously worked as an academic researcher in mental health and drug science in Australia, the US and UK. He is an epidemiologist and research methodologist and has extensive experience running studies including cross-sectional studies, prospective observational studies of general population and clinic samples, genetically informed and real world data.

Long standing Head of Research and currently CEO of Drug Science, Anne is a Chartered Psychologist, with extensive experience in both qualitative and quantitative drug research, especially medical cannabis and medical psychedelics. Anne holds honorary senior positions at both King’s College London and Imperial College London.

Hannah is Senior Researcher at Drug Science, as well as Associate Director of Research at Awakn. Hannah’s experience ranges across biochemistry, neuroscience, pre-clinical and  clinical research, and she has led research on medical cannabis and psychedelics.

Rayyan is a Senior Researcher at Drug Science, and postdoctoral fellow at Imperial College London. He has led clinical and neuroscience research in the field of  psychopharmacology, and offers extensive experience in clinical trials, as well as biomedical, psychedelic and cannabis science.

Alkyoni is Research Officer at Drug Science, where she is instrumental in data collection and analysis of Project Twenty21 (T21), the UK’s first medical cannabis registry. She is  experienced in large scale project management, stakeholder communications as well as protocol development.

Head of Operations at Drug Science, James is our legal and regulatory consultant with experience in the UK, Canada, Australia, USA, Israel and various EU member states. James contributed to the development of the world’s largest psychedelic Real World Evidence project that utilises medical psilocybin products and is able to advise on law and regulatory pathways.

Mags is our Head of Projects and Communications with extensive marketing and project management experience from the corporate advertising sector. She works across all aspects of the business; managing strategic communications, curating educational events for various sectors, as well as being a main point of liaison with key partners and stakeholders.

Why Choose Drug Science Consultancy?

We are global thought leaders in medical cannabis and medical psychedelics research and committed to providing the highest quality research advice and consultancy services. We work with our clients to ensure that their research is well-designed, ethical, and compliant with all relevant regulations. We also provide regular updates on our progress and make ourselves available to answer questions.

Contact Us

Consultancy contact form

From prohibited to prescribed: The rescheduling of MDMA and psilocybin in Australia

Authors Octavian Dixon Ritchie, Cameron N Donley and Gabrielle Dixon Ritchie Published September 6, 2023 Background On February 3, 2023, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, announced that on July 1, 2023, the psychedelics 3′4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and psilocybin will be medically accessible and regulated for psychiatric use in  …


Racial and religious motives for drug criminalization

Authors Petter Grahl Johnstad Published September 6, 2023 Abstract The world has a long-standing system of drug control intended to suppress the use of a range of psychoactive drugs on the basis that such use is very harmful both to the users themselves and to their social surroundings. This perception of harmfulness has a long  …


MDMA-assisted psychotherapy with adolescents suffering from PTSD: Do or don’t? a qualitative study with youth, parents, and clinicians

Authors Anoek S Van Vugt, Josjan Zijlmans, Ramon Lindauer and Levi Van Dam Published September 1, 2023 Background PTSD in adolescence causes much suffering and has substantial health-care costs. Many patients with severe PTSD do not respond to psychotherapy or continue to have symptoms despite trauma-focused psychotherapies and psychopharmacological treatment. A recent alternative in the  …


Perceived barriers to access to hepatitis C for people who inject drugs in Morocco: A qualitative explorative study

Authors Zakaria Belrhiti and Fatima Zohra Serghini Published September 1, 2023 Background Worldwide, approximately there are 15.6 million people who inject drugs. Recently, a rising prevalence of hepatitis C virus among the people who inject drugs community (8.2 million, 40 to 80% of people who inject drugs) urged governments to implement targeted preventive and structural  …


Cannabis-based medicinal products for the treatment of Long COVID symptoms: current and potential applications

Authors Hannah Thurgur,  Anne Katrin Schlag,  Elizabeth Iveson,  Adele Hosseini,  Michael Lynskey,  David J. Nutt Published August 31, 2023 Abstract Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can result in a range of persistent symptoms impacting everyday functioning for a considerable proportion of patients, a condition termed Long coronavirus disease (COVID) or post COVID-19 syndrome.  …


A drug harms ranking study for Aotearoa New Zealand

Dr Rose Crossin Department of Population Health – University of Otago, Christchurch Drug harm is a significant public health burden in Aotearoa New Zealand (1,2,3); though harms are not evenly distributed across the population. Māori are the indigenous population of Aotearoa New Zealand, making up approximately 17% of the total population, and have a notably  …


Dr Brigitta Brandner - Obituary

It is with very great sadness to inform you that the wonderful Dr Brigitta Brandner passed on the 19th July 2023.   As an expert in Pain and Anaesthesiology, Brigitta was a key member of Drug Science’s Scientific Committee for many years.  She contributed enthusiastically to expert groups on analgesics, such as contrasting the effects of cannabis/cannabinoids with  …


Could classic psychedelics influence immigrants’ acculturation process? A narrative review contemplating how

Authors Benjamin A. Korman Published July 31, 2023 Abstract Rising international migration, paired with increasing public support for far-right political parties, poses a growing challenge to the countries tasked with successfully integrating immigrants into their society. Further complicating this matter is the fact that the acculturation process which immigrants undergo to fully integrate into their  …


A phenomenological analysis of Fellini's films to understand the effect of LSD therapy on his creativity

Authors Antonio Metastasio, Silvio Mignogna, Riccardo Paci, Milena Mancini, Fabio Melelli, Enrico Lando, Ornella Corazza and Giovanni Stanghellini Published July 31, 2023 Abstract Since its discovery in 1943, LSD has been used by artists, scientists, and intellectuals, amongst others, to stimulate their creative insights. Federico Fellini, one of the most important film directors in the  …


The Drug Science Podcast and Medical Cannabis

By Mags Houston – Head of Projects and Communications at Drug Science  Even before I joined the Drug Science team, the Drug Science podcast has been a vital and inspiring source of information for me when it comes to UK drug policy. I recall listening to a couple of early episodes as I prepared for  …


A call for cannabis research reform in New Zealand: Why real world evidence and patients’ voices matter

Dr Fiona HuttonAssociate Professor at the Institute of CriminologyDirector Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University, Wellington Dr Geoff NollerBioethics Department, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin Alice McSherry Doctoral Candidate at the School of Environment, University of Auckland While cannabis based medicines hold out the promise of much needed relief, at the same  …


Bayesian analysis of real-world data as evidence for drug approval: Remembering Sir Michael Rawlins

Authors Balázs Szigeti, Lawrence D. Phillips and David Nutt Published July 17, 2023 Background The two pillars of modern medical research are where in most randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the active treatment is compared with placebo. A recent expert consensus survey endorsed the statement that ‘Results from placebo-controlled trials are more reliable than results from  …


Impact of the introduction of medical cannabis in the UK on risk perception and recreational use of cannabis: A longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis

Authors Jon Waldron, Meryem Grabski, Tom P Freeman, Margriet Van Laar and Valerie Curran Published July 4, 2023 Background Cannabis was rescheduled in the UK in November 2018 so that it can now be prescribed as a treatment for certain medical conditions. It is not yet known whether this has had an impact on peoples’  …


Prof Nutt awarded the Outstanding Contribution Award by the BAP

By Professor Valerie Curran and Professor Ilana Crome  In 1989, David Nutt accepted the BAP Council’s invitation to become the Managing Editor of their flagship publication, the Journal of Psychopharmacology (JoP). The first edition of JoP in 1987 had been published by Oxford University Press (OUP). However, the Journal subsequently faltered because of problems with  …


Minorities’ diminished psychedelic returns

Authors Sean M Viña and Amanda L Stephens Published June 23, 2023 Abstract Although there is a growing support for the use of psychedelics to improve the health of marginalized groups, there are some critical gaps. First, no empirical studies have examined the effects of psychedelics on Black Americans. Second, there is little research on  …


Drugs: What are they good for? - 5-MeO-DMT

Written by Sally Turner MSc  What is 5-MeO-DMT? 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, or ‘toad venom’ as it’s better known, is a tryptamine psychedelic that occurs naturally in multiple species of plants and shrubs, is present endogenously in some humans (1, 2), and is excreted by the Colorado river toad (hence the nickname). 5-MeO-DMT has been consumed by indigenous  …


Psychedelic therapy in the treatment of addiction: the past, present and future

Authors Rayyan Zafar, Maxim Siegel, Rebecca Harding, Tommaso Barba, Claudio Agnorelli, Shayam Suseelan, Leor Roseman, Matthew Wall, David Nutt and David Erritzoe Published June 12, 2023 Abstract Psychedelic therapy has witnessed a resurgence in interest in the last decade from the scientific and medical communities with evidence now building for its safety and efficacy in  …


Italian psychedelic therapies of the past century: An historical overview

Authors Adriana D’Arienzo and Giorgio Samorini Published June 6, 2023 Abstract In recent years, the historical record of psychedelic therapy in Europe and the Americas has undergone considerable revision. In this article, we contribute to this re-interpretation by sharing documentation relating to psychedelic therapy carried out in Italy during the period 1927–1966. Our library research  …


Cost-effectiveness of psilocybin-assisted therapy for severe depression: exploratory findings from a decision analytic model

Authors Paul McCrone, Henry Fisher, Clare Knight, Rebecca Harding, Anne K. Schlag, David J. Nutt and Joanna C. Neill Published June 2, 2023 Abstract Background: There is growing evidence to support the use of the psychedelic drug psilocybin for difficult-to-treat depression. This paper compares the cost-effectiveness of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) with conventional medication, cognitive behavioural  …