I've submitted an amendment to this very weak motion to:
✅Recognise the failures of Misuse of Drugs Act and lives lost due to the war on drugs.
✅The need to treat addiction as a health issue.
✅Call for an Overdose Prevention Centre.
✅Address poverty as a means of prevention.

Implementation, ethics and CM - plenty to get into on this episode. Really interesting perspectives all round. And, i didn't know it 'till now, but a chatty dog is definitely the best way to finish an interview.

New Addiction Audio out! Ben Scher talks to Dr Gabriela Khazanov, Prof. James McKay and Prof. Richard Rawson about contingency management, implementation and the impact of ethical concerns. Listen here: buff.ly/3UhsszU #Addiction #Academictwitter

Xylazine detected in counterfeit pills and 🤯THC vapes🤯 in the UK, combined with fentanyl and designer benzos in overdoses.

In context of a Taliban heroin ban, does this foreshadow a synthetic overdose crisis in Europe?

My commentary in Addiction Journal

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.11…

Great to see the argument for a social harm perspective on drug policy laid out like this.

Read the full study by and Kathleen Page Johns Hopkins Medicine and colleagues here buff.ly/4cRf2la

A lot of xylazine in Scottish 'heroin' supply.

This is an excellent discussion with Caroline Copeland. Since her research was complete, the world has of course moved on. Since December 23, Xylazine is increasingly found by WEDINOS added to heroin samples as Afghan heroin is becoming scarce. Especially in the Edinburgh region.

In this episode of Addiction Audio, Ben Scher talks to Dr Caroline Copeland about xylazine, drug related deaths and European drug markets. Listen here: buff.ly/3PTxgc4 #OpenScience

Dr Copeland School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences says more needs to be done to prevent the epidemic of xylazine use that has emerged in the USA.

Find out more ⬇️

kcl.ac.uk/news/xylazine-…

Addiction Audio podcast with Ben Scher and Caroline Copeland on this here too: shows.acast.com/addiction-audi… Addiction Journal SSA

New study by University of Oxford research links hospital privatisation with worse patient care ox.ac.uk/news/2024-02-2…

Exaspéré par 10 ans de discussions infructueuses, le DG de Kaleidoscope, a déclaré qu'il allait tester plusieurs #EspacesDeConsommation à moindre risque au #PaysDeGalles dès cet été. Il a indiqué qu'il le fera avec ou sans le soutien du gouvernement de Westminster. #SCMR

Amazing stuff - Ben just hanging out at the UN! SSA

Thank you Oxford DSPI for sharing! Check out the article below which discusses my time at the UN UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs with Οργανισμός Κατά των Ναρκωτικών - OKANA and GAT Grupo de Ativistas em Tratamentos 👇

spi.ox.ac.uk/article/ben-sc…

It was wonderful to meet with our Enhanced Harm Reduction Working Group this week.
Some members of this group went to the United Nations Session 67 of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs

You can watch their full session here - youtube.com/watch?v=Qc3hHH…
#CND67 🌐💬

Synthetic Opioids 'To get ahead of the game, safe supply [ie legally regulated] is the only logical solution'

e.g. through Heroin Assisted Treatment clinics like Glasgow's; and Middlesbrough’s - which in a classic false economy had its funding withdrawn

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

That’s a wrap on a great 6 months at QUB Drug and Alcohol Research Network Queen's University Belfast 🎓 researching #OPCs

Thank you to Dr Gillian Shorter, Andrew Dyer and the rest of the OPCprepCOS team!