By Professor David Nutt and James Bunn The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) recently withdrew a proposal to ban five psychedelic substances: 4-Hydroxy-N,N-diisopropyltryptamine (4-OH-DiPT), 5-Methoxy-alphamethyltryptamine (5-MeO-AMT), N-Isopropyl-5-Methoxy-N-Methyltryptamine (5-MeO-MiPT), N,N-Diethyl-5-methoxytryptamine (5-MeO-DET), and N,N-Diisopropyltryptamine (DiPT). Earlier this year, the DEA proposed that these substances ought to be moved to schedule 1 (the most restrictive schedule in the Controlled  …

In 2019, Drug Science submitted evidence to the Drugs Policy Inquiry by the Health and Social Care Committee. In 2020, we prepared a detailed report in response to the Dame Carol Black Drugs Review. In 2021, we reacted to the government’s 10-year Drug Strategy. Our 2022 response to the UK government’s call for evidence of  …

Mephedrone is the common name for 4-methylmethcathinone. This is a synthetic derivative of cathinone, first synthesized in 1929, and largely forgotten until the early 2000s when Israeli scientists working for an insecticide company started experimenting with cathinones as octopamine analogues to disrupt the brain activity of aphids so make them less damaging to plants. Mephedrone  …

By Dr. Shanna Marrinan   Since the 2nd of March 2015, it has been illegal to drive with predetermined amounts of particular drugs (including legal medications) in your blood. The limits for these legal and illegal drugs can be located in ‘The Drug Driving (Specified Limits) (England and Wales) Regulations 2014’ (hereafter the 2014 regulations’). However, a handy  …

Foreword by Professor David Nutt Lies, damn lies and vaping statistics- To paraphrase Disraeli’s famous critique of statistics the so-called science of vaping now seems to have become even worse than dishonest. In the past 6 months we have seen across the world a deliberate attempt to mislead the public over the harms of vaping  …

With the 2019 general election fast approaching, a lot of media coverage will focus on each party’s Brexit policies. Drug Science would like to offer a different perspective, what do the six highest polling parties promise to do to address the UK’s failing drug policy. This is what each party has publicly announced relating to  …

The Lancet has recently published a series of articles about drug use. More specifically, the use of opioids, cannabinoids, stimulants, and new psychoactive substances (NPS). One of these articles highlights an increasingly relevant issue of international drug policy. This comment titled Change But Not Progression, emphasises that Governments around the world continue to pedal policies  …

On the 30th of October 2019, our Founder – Professor David Nutt spoke at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies with Professor Alex Stevens about the regression of drug policy in the UK. This was later reported in the British Medical Journal as follows: Drug policy in UK has regressed in past decade, says  …

Dr James Foulds, Consultant forensic psychiatrist, Christchurch New Zealand Methamphetamine smoking is the commonest form of stimulant use in New Zealand. Asian importation has increased recently, and the drug has got much cheaper. However, despite harsh sanctions, dealing remains attractive for many people- including those who sell the drug to fund their own use. Until  …

I first came across David Nutt in July 2007, when he spoke at a conference called ‘Criminal Justice and Social Justice’, which the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies held at King’s College London. David spoke on the subject of ‘Why adopt a harm approach in relation to drugs?’. Here was someone, I thought at  …

At the end of last week, NICE released their initial appraisal on cannabidiol in the form of Epidiolex for childhood epilepsy.  As predicted by Drug Science experts they found against it on the grounds of cost-benefit. We don’t have the company submission regarding cost/benefit analysis, and consequently cannot comment on those, but we can reflect  …

Today (13th August 2019), the independent scientific body Drug Science has responded with disappointment to a decision by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), relating to cannabis-related medical products. In November 2018, the then Home Secretary Sajid Javid introduced regulations so that cannabis-derived medicinal products would be available on prescription. This change  …

Drug Science Patron Lord Nic Rea, hosted Drug Science committee members, trustees, and community supporters at House of Lords on Wednesday, celebrating ten years of achievements, and new initiatives in medical cannabis and psychedelic research. In the beautiful Cholmondeley Room of Westminster Palace, 150 of Drug Science’s supporters heard CEO David Badcock welcome guests and  …

Prof. Adam Winstock – Global Drug Survey 2019 As the tide of cannabis regulatory reform wafts through North America and beyond, it strikes me that the cannabis legalisation lobby started from a strong position. The weight of evidence and cogent arguments at their disposal to counter the totally unhelpful criminalisation of cannabis users was enormous.  …

An alarming rise in drug-related deaths at music festivals can be countered by testing illicit substances onsite, according to the first academic study of its kind [PDF download], which has triggered calls for similar services to be rolled out at all major events. Samples contained ketamine instead of cocaine, while a drug sold as MDMA  …

There are a range of issues facing us in relation to substance misuse in the older person: some are ongoing controversies and uncertainties; some are myths; and others certainties. Much of these issues are covered in depth in a new report published by the Royal College of Psychiatrists this year – Our Invisible Addicts. There  …

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 [from Class B where it/they are currently placed]. Whilst it is understandable that parents and local community groups would like to put an end to  …

A letter to The Times from coalition of world-leading clinicians and academics, many of whom are DrugScience members, urging the government to legalise medical cannabis. Related Content UK Drugs Inquiry: Drug Science ResponseApril 25 2022 Legalising Cannabis in Germany - High AmbitionsNovember 29 2021 “We're asking for quality of life for our children” - Medical  …

This blog discusss DrugScience's latest multi-criterion decision analysis of cannabis and alcohol regulation. Read the open access paper here. We’re all used to weighing up the benefits and pitfalls in our decision making. Is it worth the cost? Is it safe? Will I be able to get up in the morning? These are all simple  …

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 don’t hear that very much these days, so I say it very proudly in these moments when I can. I am here to represent an incredible group of families from all over  …

Nitrous oxide has returned to our headlines - last month two possession with intent to supply Crown Court cases collapsed and this week the 2016 mortality figures were released. The cases were brought forward under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (PSA) and fell apart when both judges ruled that nitrous oxide was in fact exempt  …

Today’s report of over 60 deaths last year in which fentanyl was implicated raises major alarm bells in the opioid treatment community. It could be the prelude to a wave of deaths from this synthetic opioid (as is now being seen in the USA), where now most street “heroin” is boosted with fentanyl. So what  …

A briefing from the English Harm Reduction Group looks at whether the focus on harm reduction has improved under the new strategy, and discusses challenges in the funding environment which will have a disproportionate impact on harm reduction services. The briefing was also published by the EHRG as a letter in the British Medical Journal.  …

As the United States experiences an overwhelming opioid crisis; as the world’s press is flooded with extra-judicial killings targeting drug “offenders” in the Philippines; as young Australians overdose on novel psychoactive substances and teenagers in the UK on ecstasy, there can be only one certainty: drugs are here to stay. Despite some countries reaffirming farcical  …

The cannabis plant produces over 100 compounds with therapeutic potential. Most of these have never been properly studied because of the complications of researching any cannabis plant extract that might contain d9THC, the “stoning” element of the “herb”. D9THC and many related compounds are controlled under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act [MDAct1971]. Here they  …

On December 14th the government put into effect new controls against a whole range of synthetic cannabinoids. This was their third round of controls against these new hyper-potent recreational cannabis agonist drugs that have taken over many of our prisons and also are wreaking havoc in the homeless population. The first two sets of controls  …

This special issue of the Journal of Psychopharmacology contains two landmark studies – the most rigorous controlled trials to date using the psychedelic drug psilocybin, the active ingredient of magic mushrooms (Griffiths et al., 2016; Ross et al., 2016). These were conducted in patients with anxiety and depression and existential distress in the context of  …

‘Scotch mist’ may be taken to refer to a whisky-based beverage (Scotch whisky, crushed ice and lemon peel). More traditionally, the term refers to the drizzle, neither full-on rain nor proper mist, that frequently descends on many areas of Scotland. According to my Yahoo search, the expression, ‘What’s this, Scotch Mist?’, is a jokey, sarcastic  …

The WHO is the world’s leading health organisation guiding governments around the world. So we expect their advice to be up to date and evidence-based, particularly on controversial topics. One of the most controversial topics of our time is the international community’s approach to drug policy, particularly that relating to the most popular so-called “illegal”  …

A version of this post was published in The Guardian It seems the London club Fabric has had its licence revoked on the grounds that its management is inadequately controlling drug use in the venue. The immediate incidents that led to this decision were the tragic deaths this year of two young men at the  …