COVID-19 changed our lives: from travel bans, social and physical isolation and empty cities to workers laid off and governments scrambling to muster effective responses. The impact that coronavirus had on people varies widely and differently between countries. Relationships were placed under new stresses and for those educating children at home, long division never seemed …
Mobeen Azhar has been a journalist for 17 years investigating the societal harms related to the ‘war on drugs’. Upon returning to his hometown of Huddersfield, Mobeen started to uncover grizzly story behind the roadside execution of Yassar Yaqub. Described in court as a 28-year-old office clerk, Yassar Yaqub was shot dead by police on …
In this episode of the Drug Science podcast, Professor David Nutt is joined by two pharmacosexuality experts to discuss chemsex, drug fuelled sex parties and sexual psychonauts. From the peak sexual experience to sober sex, our relationship with sex and drugs is complicated but intrinsically personal. Find out who chooses to mix sex and drugs, …
Adam Winstock joins Professor David Nutt to discuss how drug use has changed in the past 20 years and the data that he has collected as a part of the Global Drug Survey (GDS). Using anonymous online research methods Global Drug Survey runs an annual survey collecting information on people’s drug use. Using this data, …
What do horse riding, motorsports, base jumping, mountain climbing, storm chasing, and drug use have in common? They are of all course all potentially dangerous activities pursued for a thrill, a rush, and often a great deal of enjoyment. But in our modern-day prohibitionist culture, one of those things is not seen as being like …
New Book Alert Professors Ilana Crome (Drug Science Trustee) and Richard Williams have recently released their latest book – Substance Misuse and Young People: Critical Issues. This book is a comprehensive source of information on young people’s requirements for assessment, treatment and other interventions because of their misuse of substances. It highlights approaches that enhance …
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 …
Context In recent years there has been an increase in the availability of ‘novel psychoactive substances (NPS)’ or ‘legal highs’. In turn, there is concern as to the risks these compounds pose as compared to those posed by traditionally misused substances such as illicit diamorphine (heroin), methadone, cocaine, and amfetamines. Methods We reviewed deaths where …
The potential of psychedelic drugs in the treatment of mental health problems is increasingly being recognized. However, relatively little thrust has been given to the suggestion that individuals without any mental health problems may benefit from using psychedelic drugs, and that they may have a right to do so. This review considers contemporary research into …
Both recreational and problematic 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)/ecstasy users could benefit from employing harm reduction interventions intended to preserve health and prevent negative consequences. To evaluate whether use of such interventions varied by country of residence and frequency of ecstasy use, we used web-based surveys to assess how often 104 lower-frequency and higher-frequency American ecstasy users and …
Khat leaves originate in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and are chewed socially for their psychoactive properties. The main constituents of khat, cathinone and cathine, are illegal substances in most of Europe, including the UK, which reclassified khat as a Class C drug in June 2014. Case reports of khat-induced psychosis and dependence are …