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 …
Call for Evidence – Part Two focused on prevention, treatment and recovery. Drug Science has submitted its findings to Dame Carol Black to be considered in Part 2 of her independent review of drugs. The full submission can be found here: Key Points of the Drug Science Submission (submitted on August 6th 2020) can …
This Parliamentary briefing has been prepared by DrugScience, The Global Drug Survey, Release and Transform Drug Policy Foundation. Recreational use of nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide is a gas that was discovered in the late 1800s by UK scientists Priestley and Davy, the latter being President of the Royal Society. At the time nitrous oxide …
Drug Science will launch the Working Medical Cannabis Working Group at its House of Lords annual evening reception on Wednesday 22 May 2019.
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 …
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 …
There are fewer than ten empirical studies on the transition from prison to university so the article “Moving from Prison to PhD” is a step in the right direction to highlight this neglected and important topic. Globally, millions of individuals are arrested and charged with drug offences every year. Most of them will be scarred …
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 …
Drug Science stands by its e-cigarette analysis from 2014, any way of radically reducing the death toll from tobacco would be a worldwide public health triumph. e-cigarettes are not the solution to end the ever-increasing death toll caused by tobacco. However, they have proven to be an incredibly effective tool for tens of thousands of …
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 …
The Royal College of Psychiatrists has undertaken a review to develop a College position on cannabis use in the UK and how this relates to mental health, incorporating evidence on the biological, psychological and social effects of cannabis, and the use of medicinal cannabis in relation to mental illness. The review invited comment from experts …
Drug Science will launch the Working Medical Cannabis Working Group at its House of Lords annual evening reception on Wednesday 22 May 2019.
Please download the conference background materials here, including: Meeting slides DrugScience report on medicinal cannabis DrugScience cannabis pre-review submitted to the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence Summaries of international and American medicinal cannabis licensing The Chief Medical Officer and advisor to the UK government has recently agreed that cannabis is a medicine. It has …
Around the world, politicians are working to ban e-cigarette marketing, limit their nicotine content, prohibit use in public buildings, and even to ban them entirely. There remains a need for policy makers to become better informed of the relative harms of nicotine delivery systems in order to build a regulatory framework that minimises harm. The …
Below is DrugScience’s response to the Government’s drug driving consultation. The consultation has now closed. Parliament will not be debating these changes in full as despite their serious nature, they are to be instituted through an amendment of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (secondary legislation). Do you agree with the Government’s proposed approach as set …