Authors Fabian Pitter Steinmetz, Maja Kohek Published May 3, 2022 Background The supply chains addressing the global demand for major recreational drugs are hardly addressed due to international contracts, particularly the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Currently applied regulatory changes have several disadvantages ranging from political tensions to the neglect of ecological aspects. The  …

What do Ketamine, Alcohol and Cannabis all have in common…not much, other than they are all up for discussion in this episode of the Drug Science Podcast! This week we’re talking about ketamine with Professor Celia Morgan, a Professor of Psychopharmacology at the University of Exeter and the academic lead for Exeter Translational Addiction Partnership  …

By Dr Michael White – Adjunct Senior Fellow, School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, South Australia Marcotte et al. (2022): Per se laws are unjust One of the best cannabis-impairment studies that I have encountered (Marcotte et al., 2022) was published online this week, as an open-access article. You can read it here: Driving Performance and  …

The British Paediatric Neurology Association (BPNA) recently produced new guidance on the prescription of cannabis medicines for children with epilepsy. However, the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society (UKMCCS) and Drug Science fundamentally disagree with this guidance. Expert clinicians from both organisations have produced a critique to provide commentary, evidence and further crucial information to guide paediatricians to  …

This webinar was recorded during a Drug Science Live Event which included a live Q&A session from the audience. If you want to ensure that you don’t miss any of our events, so that you can ask your questions live, all you need to do is join the Drug Science Mailing List. Drug Science is  …

The 24th of November 2021 was a remarkable day for German drug policy reformers and cannabis enthusiasts. The federal election allowed a coalition to form, which is called the “traffic light coalition” due to the individual parties’ colours. Whilst two parties, the Greens and the FDP, are campaigning for cannabis legalisation for quite a while  …

 Professor Nutt and Professor Barnes will be talking about medical cannabis. Should our future doctors obtain proper education on how to use botanical medicines? Should we change the way we think about drugs and treatments? Tune into this week’s episode to find out!   Who is Prof Mike Barnes? Professor Mike Barnes is a  …

Authors: Edward James, Thomas L Robertshaw, Michael J Pascoe, Fiona M Chapman, Andrew D Westwell, Mathew Hoskins, Jacob Barrow, Ben Sessa, Rick Doblin, Renee Rosky, & Andrew P Smith Published: August 3, 2021 This study was designed to generate a model for a legal regulated market for cannabis in the UK. The results were obtained  …

Any recreational drug use is likely to carry a degree of risk. This includes legal highs such as alcohol and tobacco but is especially true of illegal drugs due to lack of regulation and the often unsafe context in which they may be consumed.  It is of utmost importance that frontline healthcare workers understand the  …

After hearing feedback about challenges finding career opportunities from the Drug Science Student Society, this webinar provides insight into the careers available in the industries of psychedelics, cannabis, and addiction treatment. With speakers including healthcare workers and both industry and research executives, this webinar will help you find a career working with drugs. With more than  …

Authors: Kenzi Riboulet-Zemouli Published: December 29, 2020 Objective Identify a coherent nomenclature for Cannabis sativa L. derived products and their analogues.   Design Research undertaken in parallel to the three-year assessment of Cannabis derivatives by the World Health Organisation. The scope is limited to Cannabis products intended for human incorporation (internal and topical consumption). Primarily  …

By Dr. Meg Spriggs and Professor David Nutt  On October 17th 2020, New Zealanders will be given the opportunity to change the way recreational cannabis use is viewed and treated. At present, recreational cannabis use¹ is illegal under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 (either class B or C depending on its form). Despite this,  …

Authors: Anne Katrin Schlag, David S Baldwin, Michael Barnes, Steve Bazire, Rachel Coathup, H Valerie Curran, Rupert McShane, Lawrence D Phillips, Ilina Singh, David J Nutt Published: June 10, 2020 Read the full paper here (open access) Drug Science submits it's finding concerning the UK Medical cannabis industry. In our recent peer-reviewed publication, Drug Science  …

The tables have been turned in this one-off special of the Drug Science podcast. In this episode, Professor David Nutt is interviewed by renowned singer-songwriter – Joss Stone. Professor Nutt is the Chair of the Drug Science Scientific Committee and currently the Edmund J Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology and Head of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit at  …

Lucy Stafford is a medical cannabis patient and advocate. Having spent most of her teenage years in severe pain, dependent on opiates and a feeding tube, discovering medical cannabis has transformed her health and quality of life. She is passionate about working towards a healthcare system that integrates the use of medical cannabis in the  …

Authors: Anne Katrin Schlag Published: January 15, 2020 Article from Drug Science's Head of Research - Dr Anne Schlag An Evaluation of Regulatory Regimes of Medical Cannabis: What Lessons Can Be Learned for the UK? Despite the legalization of medical cannabis in the UK in November 2018, patients still lack access to this medicine, with  …

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  …

On the 1st of November 2018, medicinal cannabis products were removed from schedule 1 and placed in schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. This change in the law has left patients, medical professionals and law enforcement perplexed about who should and who should not have access to medicinal cannabis. As access to  …

Professor David Nutt sits down with Joss Stone, Suzi Gage & Hannah Deacon to discuss the recent progress and biggest issues relating to medicinal cannabis. Many people up and down the country have turned to cannabis to alleviate pain & reduce symptoms of a wide range of ailments. Despite this, the drug still carries hefty penalties  …

Drug Science is asked frequently about medical cannabis – what it is, what it can be used for, who can prescribe it and how to regulate it.  We’ve developed different ways to help doctors, patients and professionals understand this complex, emerging field, and our education programmes are central to this MEDIC (Medical Education in Cannabinoids)  …

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  …

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 is delighted to support The Cannabis Society Medical Conference, being held on 24th June in Central London. The Cannabis Society is dedicated to fostering the cannabis community through events, conferences, dinners and much more. The conference is an opportunity to join with doctors from both Europe and North America, industry experts, investors 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.  …

On 1 November 2018, following considerable popular pressure surrounding a select number of young children with treatment-resistant epilepsy who responded well to medicinal cannabis (and medicinal cannabis alone), regulations in the UK came into force to reschedule cannabis‑derived medicinal products to schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 and to allow prescribing of  …

Drug Science will launch the Working Medical Cannabis Working Group at its House of Lords annual evening reception on Wednesday 22 May 2019.

Cannabis is arguably the world’s oldest medicine, with evidence of such use from 3000 year old tombs in Egypt and Siberia. It had a place in Indian and Chinese medical writing from nearly as long ago. It didn’t enter the UK until the late 1600s, but by the 1800s it was widely used, sold over  …

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  …

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 is a constructive document that highlights a number of issues and problems that this commentator has raised for some time. In some respects the document is nuanced. Doubtless in the  …

Authors: Alana DD Griffith, Damian H Cohall Published: September 5, 2018 Unlike the recent global trend of a decline in the prohibition of the use of Cannabis sativa for recreational and medical uses, Barbados and other small island states in the Caribbean have maintained their prohibitive legislation and policies on the use of the herb.  …