In recent years you could be forgiven for thinking there is very little to celebrate in the worlds of policing and crime prevention. Crime, as always, has dominated the headlines with alarming tenacity. Knife crime is going up, while 22,500 fewer officers are on our streets. Stop and search continues to spark controversy, while organised … Continued
Today from 4pm, the Health and Social Care Committee will hear the first round of evidence into their inquiry regarding current drugs policy. Click the LINK to read our submission to the inquiry. Scope of the inquiry Terms of Reference The Committee is seeking written submissions on the health consequences of illicit drugs policy … Continued
Volteface has today released its most recent report titled ‘Making the Grade: School prevention, identification and responses to drug-related harm’, written in partnership with the UK‘s leading prevention charity, Mentor. The report considers how the UK’s education system responds to drugs by examining the approaches taken to preventing, identifying and responding to illegal drug use and … Continued
Despite the chaos of Brexit, Westminster support for drug consumption rooms has hit an all time high and, for the first time, the call for reform has come from a centre right think tank, the Adam Smith Institute. Drug consumption rooms (DCRs) operate in 60 cities worldwide and act as professionally supervised healthcare facilities … Continued
In December 2018, the think tank the Centre for Social Justice commissioned a national poll through YouGov which asked 1,646 respondents whether they had previously used cannabis. Depending on the respondents answer to this question they then asked those who hadn’t tried cannabis whether they would try cannabis if it was legalised, or if … Continued
A landmark study published this week – which found that cannabis users who smoke stronger strains of the drug on a daily basis are five times more likely to be diagnosed with psychosis – has worrying implications for public health. At least 7.4% of adults use cannabis and recent research has shown that 94% … Continued
Last week, the UK’s first drug safety testing clinic to be licensed by the Home Office opened its doors in Weston-Super-Mare. Whilst this is a very welcomed and progressive move by the Government, they have not always been so favourable to drug safety testing. Here is a timeline of their positions on drug safety … Continued
The LCDPR, founded by MPs Jeff Smith & Thangam Debbonaire, have today announced new details of the campaign, including members of their Expert Working Group and voluntary Ambassadors. The Campaign was set up to provide a forum for the Labour grassroots to debate and shape Labour’s drug policy for the future. Ambassadors have been … Continued
A lot has changed in drug treatment in the past twenty years. Countless contracts have come and gone, entire providers have gone out of business, several drug strategies have significantly changed the focus of treatment, and funding has plummeted. Amongst this flux one thing has always remained of vital importance; the voice of service … Continued
At the end of last year, the think tank the Centre for Social Justice published its report ‘Cannabis: The Case Against Legalisation’, a systematic take-down of why the UK should not follow the path of legalisation. While the CSJ’s entry into the cannabis debate should be welcomed, fundamental flaws in the report present a … Continued