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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.
Drug Science
Dec 10, 20164 min read
Psilocybin for anxiety and depression in cancer care? Lessons from the past and prospects for the future
This special issue of the Journal of Psychopharmacology contains two landmark studies – the most rigorous controlled trials to date using...
Drug Science
Dec 10, 20166 min read
‘Scotch mist’: the ongoing saga of Alcohol Minimum Unit Pricing
‘Scotch mist’ may be taken to refer to a whisky-based beverage (Scotch whisky, crushed ice and lemon peel). More traditionally, the term...
Drug Science
Dec 10, 20163 min read
Better late than never? After 82 years the WHO reviews cannabis!
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...
Drug Science
Sep 10, 20163 min read
I blame Fabric’s closure on this country’s backward drugs policy
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...
Drug Science
Apr 3, 20161 min read
Expert Report on cannabis legalisation for the Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats became the first UK political party to call for cannabis legalisation. An expert report was commissioned by the Lib...
Drug Science
Apr 3, 20163 min read
Cannabis Review for the attention of the WHO
Read the full report The scheduling under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs assumes a scientific justification. However, cannabis...
Drug Science
Mar 10, 20161 min read
The poppers ban is a veiled attack on pleasure
ntercourse. Why is the government so anti-pleasure, particularly for gay men? Much of the drive to ban legal highs has come from the...
Polly Taylor, Professor David Nutt and more
Mar 3, 20161 min read
Ketamine as an essential medicine
Authors: Polly Taylor, David Nutt, Val Curran, Rudi Fortson, and Graeme Henderson Published: March 11, 2016 A letter to The Lancet...
Drug Science
Feb 12, 20161 min read
Do the risks of khat-induced dependence and psychosis warrant the 2014 UK ban?
Khat leaves originate in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and are chewed socially for their psychoactive properties. The main...
Drug Science
Nov 18, 20152 min read
Public policies on the use of drugs in Mexico and Latin America
Recently, there has been a more profound political debate in Latin American countries around the possibilities of legal regulation and...
Fiona Measham and Gavin Turnbull
Oct 10, 20154 min read
How one patch of grass became the UK's first ever decriminalised drugs space
Inside a previously unremarkable circle of grass about 10 metres in diameter, a bold new precedent for drugs policy was set in the UK....
Professor David Nutt
Jul 13, 20151 min read
Professor David Nutt: Throwing the Baby Out With the Bath Water: Irrational Drug Laws and Medical Research
Filmed at Breaking Convention: 3rd International Conference on Psychedelic Consciousness, 10-12th July, 2015 Links within video:...
Professor David Nutt
Jun 3, 20157 min read
Briefing notes on the Psychoactive Substances Bill 2015
The DrugScience group met on Thursday 1 June, and the major item for discussion was the new Psychoactive Substances Bill. The Bill will...
Drug Science
Apr 3, 20156 min read
Amphetamine driving consultation 2015
Below is DrugScience’s response to the Government’s consultation on new regulations on driving with amphetamine in the body. Do you agree...
Drug Science
Mar 24, 20151 min read
Underground MDMA-, LSD- and 2-CB-assisted individual and group psychotherapy in Zurich: Outcomes, implications and commentary
Underground psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has persisted in Europe despite the banning of the substances LSD and MDMA in the 1960s...
Drug Science
Feb 10, 20153 min read
The UK needs common sense about ketamine
A version of this post was published in The Guardian Ketamine is a unique anaesthetic and analgesic that has unfortunately become a...
Drug Science
Jan 10, 20154 min read
The Superman pill deaths are the result of our illogical drugs policy
A version of this post was published in The Guardian The past week has seen a number of drug disasters in the UK, one of which is the...
Drug Science
Jun 3, 20142 min read
New Psychoactive Substances - a minimum dataset
The collection of scientific evidence about novel psychoactive substances is essential for guiding appropriate responses and reducing...
Drug Science
Apr 14, 20142 min read
Health-related and legal interventions: A comparison of allegedly delinquent and convicted opioid addicts in Austria
In Austria, judges can offer quasi-compulsory treatment options (in- and outpatient settings) as an alternative to imprisonment for...
Drug Science
Apr 3, 20143 min read
Khat and alcohol harm comparison
As the khat ban approached, DrugScience commissioned a review of khat harms, following the detailed and rigorous report from the UK...
Drug Science
Apr 3, 20143 min read
Harms of nicotine-containing products
Around the world, politicians are working to ban e-cigarette marketing, limit their nicotine content, prohibit use in public buildings,...
Drug Science
Mar 27, 20144 min read
“Ravaged by drugs”? Let’s spread facts, not fear; science, not stigma
Today the Mail, Telegraph and others have been featuring the vile and dehumanising “More than Meth” campaign, which invites us to gasp...
Drug Science
Mar 10, 20143 min read
Figures for UK deaths from legal highs cannot be trusted
A version of this post was published in The Guardian At the last G8 summit, the prime minister said legal highs are a serious concern and...
Drug Science
Feb 10, 20141 min read
Ecstasy, legal highs and designer drug use: A Canadian perspective
Recreational drug use in Canada is not uncommon, but as with most societies, illegal drug use carries harsh penalties resulting in a...
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