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Blog
At Drug Science we like to cover different topics relating to drugs. These topics cover the many different ways that psychoactive substances have an impact on our culture and society.
Lord Dick Taverne (1928-2025)
We are very sad to hear of last week’s passing of Lord Dick Taverne.
Dick had a very keen interest in science, so in addition to his illustrious political career, he founded the pressure group Sense About Science in 2002. In line with Drug Science’s ethos, he campaigned tirelessly for sound science and evidence-based policy making, aiming to make the world a better, more evidence-based place.
Drug Science
6d1 min read
A long, strange trip: Ketamine treatment in psychiatry
It is 60 years since ketamine was first tested in humans as an alternative but safer anaesthetic to PCP (phencyclidine) (Corssen and Domino 1966). It became widely used as the “buddy drug” for combatants in the Vietnam War: because of its great safety margin, it could be injected into wounded personnel by their buddies to relieve pain before the arrival of the medical team.
An evaluation of a psychoeducational harm-reduction focused intervention targeting music festival attendees/at risk of negative outcomes surrounding recreational substance use
This pilot study assessed a video-based psychoeducational intervention designed to reduce substance-related harm among music festival attendees. Participants (N = 273) completed pre-intervention surveys, with 144 engaging in the intervention.
C.L. Rayner, C. Bradshaw and J. Davies
Oct 261 min read
Observations from a frontline worker in London - in response to the Office of National Statistics on drug deaths of 2024 in England and Wales
Drug related deaths are preventable most of the times and these increasing number on drug deaths prove that the government is failing to provide essential care to its citizens.
Plinio Ferreira
Oct 2312 min read
Drug Science response to ACMD call for evidence on cannabis-based products for medicinal use
Drug Science has responded to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drug’s (ACMD’s) call for evidence related to cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs). We hope that our evidence will inform future policy decisions, develop rational debate, and support further research into these compounds.
Isabel Faulkner
Oct 163 min read
Changes in sleep quality among patients prescribed medicinal cannabis: Real-world evidence from Project Twenty 21
Emerging research suggests that prescribed cannabinoids may improve sleep quality both among people with formal diagnoses of insomnia and among those experiencing disturbed sleep in the context of other chronic health conditions.
Help us raise funds for people who use drugs
Every day, people who use drugs are forced into unsafe, rushed street injecting because most hostels and housing projects ban active drug use. The Voices of Sandwell project in the UK revealed a clear truth: while hostels protect people from homelessness, strict abstinence rules can push them into dangerous public drug use—dramatically increasing overdose risk.
Mat Southwell
Sep 302 min read
Royal College of Psychiatrists call for more research into psychedelics for medical use
The Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) have released a position statement on the efficacy and safety of psychedelics and related substances (PARS), in addition to updated clinical guidance surrounding research into these compounds and a framework for delivering assisted psychotherapy.
Isabel Faulkner
Sep 245 min read
Losing the innovation footrace: Refining regulations in the creation of overdose reversal technology within the United States
The current mechanisms in the United States to research and develop novel reversal agents for substances that can lead to overdose are restricted by regulations placed on the pharmaceutical industry.
A lexicon for psychedelic research and treatment
To date, there has been a lack of consensus in the field of psychedelic research regarding key terms. It is our hope that development of this lexicon can aid in translating findings across various research groups and improve clarity and precision in our communications with each other and the general public.
Medical Psychedelics Working Group
Sep 212 min read
Easing End-of-Life Distress: Should Psychedelic Therapy Be Part of Palliative Care in the UK?
Facing a terminal diagnosis is one of life’s most difficult challenges. Beyond the physical burden of illness, patients often experience anxiety, depression, insomnia, and existential distress – a sense of suffering that touches mind and body alike.
What can Boomtown 2025 teach us about responding to drug use?
In 2013 Wendy Teasdill’s daughter, Ellie Rowe, died at Boomtown festival as a result of taking a combination of ketamine and alcohol. Neither were taken in excess but the combination was fatal. She did not know what she was doing.
Fiona Measham and Wendy Teasdill
Sep 85 min read
Sociodemographic and mental-health characteristics of psychedelic-assisted therapy participants: Latent class analysis of a cross-sectional, purposive online sample
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is an emerging treatment that combines pharmacotherapeutic dosing sessions with psychotherapy. Despite limited regulatory approval, treatment seekers can access PAT through various avenues, including ketamine treatment centers and “supported adult use” psilocybin centers in the US, drug tourism, “underground” therapy, and participation in clinical trials.
Patterns of recreational substance use, help seeking and harm reduction among UK music festival attendees
Substance use at UK music festivals presents a significant public health challenge, with evolving patterns of drug use, associated risk behaviours, and harm reduction practices among attendees.
Substance Abuse Among Healthcare Students: The Interplay of Stress, Knowledge, and Awareness
While the challenge of unbalanced stressful environment is more profound in Middle Eastern regions , the application of self-awareness intervention programs in mental health education is a global gap that is essential to be tackled in a demanding, vulnerable and critical environment of healthcare students.
Rania Magableh
Sep 26 min read
Europe's Landmark Psychedelic Medicine Gathering Returns to London
Drug Science is proud to partner with Prohibition Partners to bring back PSYCH Symposium in December 2025, after two sold-out editions in 2022 and 2023.
Drug Science
Aug 274 min read
We Out Here Festival 2025 - Psychedelics and Connectedness
For the 2nd year in a row, the Drug Science team was invited to host a discussion around psychedelics at We Out Here Festival, which is held in Wimborne St Giles, Dorset.
Plinio Ferreira
Aug 262 min read
Drug Science response to Ketamine Harms Assessment
Drug Science responded to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs’ (ACMD’s) call on Ketamine use, harms and interventions. We hope that our evidence can help to develop rational debate, policy making and scheduling about Ketamine.
Anne Katrin Schlag, David Nutt and Celia Morgan
Aug 194 min read
Germany Pioneers Compassionate Psilocybin Access for Treatment-Resistant Depression in EU First
Germany has recently taken a landmark step by introducing compassionate access to psilocybin for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD), marking the first such programme in the European Union.
Jody Chu and James Bunn
Aug 53 min read
UK Government supports ACMD plan to enable research with schedule 1 medicines such as psilocybin and MDMA
Despite the resurgence of research into the clinical efficacy and mechanism of action of psychedelic drugs such as such as psilocybin, LSD, DMT, and MDMA they are currently in Schedule 1 of the Misuse of Drugs regulations 2001.
Jody Chu, James Bunn and Prof Jo Neill
Jul 305 min read
Why do you smoke cannabis? Qualitative interviews of Japanese cannabis users
The number of cannabis-related arrests has been increasing in Japan, accompanied by the implementation of stricter legal penalties. However, there has been little investigation into the motivations behind cannabis use or the reasons for continued use among users in Japan.
Networked narratives: Examining how Purdue Pharmaceuticals shaped public health policy and practice
In 1996, Purdue Pharmaceutical's (Purdue) launched OxyContin, an opioid painkiller, with the largest marketing strategy in pharmaceutical history. Literature has now established that Purdue's marketing of OxyContin was a root cause of the current opioid crisis, responsible for over 600,000 deaths in and beyond North America.
The erosion of safer supply programs in Ontario, Canada: A dangerous step backward
Opioid-related deaths in Ontario remain persistently high, driven largely by an unstable and unregulated drug supply. In response, harm reduction services, such as supervised consumption sites/consumption and treatment services and safer supply programs, have been implemented to reduce the risks of overdose and connect people who use drugs with essential healthcare and social services.
The alcohol hangover product market of the United States of America
A 2019 study revealed more than 80 products available online with implied benefits to alcohol hangover. Since then, several developments may have influenced the market.
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