Here is where we post our project updates: new partnerships formed, funding received,
blog posts, event details and other output we produce.
Our report "The Benzo Research Project: An evaluation of recreational benzodiazepine use amongst UK young people (18-25)" is now live!
Event photographs taken by Nathan Frank.
On Monday 5th December (19:00-21:00), we hosted an event at (K2.31) Nash Lecture Theatre, King's Building, Strand Campus, King's College London. We celebrated the work we have done throughout the course of this project, and the release of our report which analyses 73 testimonies on benzo use in young people (18-25) in the UK. Watch the recording here: youtu.be/bd9FH6YuCzg.

There was also a panel debate discussing 'What should the future of drug policy look like?'  Chair: Paul North (Volteface) 
Panellists:
  1. Ivan Ezquerra Romano (Drugs and Me and Neurosight, UCL PhD student)
  2. Amber Moore (Conservative Drug Reform Policy Group)
  3. Lauren Stewart (1625 Outreach at Change Grow Live)
  4. Ronnie Cowan (SNP MP and Vice Chair of the Drug Policy Reform APPG)​

The event was held in partnership with Generation Maastricht. The event was recorded and streamed live. 
Our Co-Head of Research, AJ Martin, recently had a piece republished by Volteface and Drugs and Me, titled 'Benzodiazepines and Post-War America'. 

"Before the availability of these so-called emotional aspirins, Freudian psychoanalysis reigned supreme in the psychiatry field. In fact, there was no clear consensus that anxiety was 'a psychiatric illness serious enough to require pharmaceutical care'. Instead, in the 1950s, Americans viewed anxiety as an honourable emblem of hard work and an inevitable side effect of their 'insatiable hunger to get ahead'. Thus, when the new anti-anxiety drug Miltown was marketised in 1955 by Carter-Wallace Laboratories, American celebrities and their loyal fans were enamoured."
Our Head of Socials, Ross Webster, recently had a piece republished by Volteface and Drugs and Me, titled 'The Benzo Research Project: a UK Platform for Young People'.

"Increased use in recent years has warranted health warnings regarding the drug all across the UK. Far from being an issue restricted to certain counties, benzo addiction and the subsequent risks to health it incurs has become a nationwide problem. Worryingly little is being done to combat this, with the general assumption seeming to be that issues relating to benzo addiction are only prevalent in cities with a lively drug culture. Benzo misuse and addiction does not only take place in these underground scenes where recreational drug use is part of the norm, but also in homes and hospitals across the nation. Owing to this, benzo consumption has rapidly become a prolific problem within the UK."

​We are very happy to announce that we are now official partners of Change Grow Live (1625 Outreach). They provide information and support surrounding drug and alcohol use and the associated risks to young people (16-25) in Derbyshire.
​Our team has conducted an inductive thematic analysis on testimonies 1-74 for our report. These include over 19,000 words worth of experiences from young people across the UK. 

​We are incredibly grateful to all people who submitted their stories to us; we hope to spotlight your words and experiences to drive change and hopefully improve support avenues for us all. We deserve better, so we hope that these findings and recommendations persuade people who have the power to advocate for a brighter alternative.


​​We were recently on ITV! Check out George Hancorn's article on us, titled 'Psychoactive drugs being 'sold' to children as young as 15 on Instagram for as little as £1'. It's also available in video form on their Instagram, YouTube, and website.


​Our fifth partner is the Westminster Drug Project, a fantastic organisation delivering support services focusing on young people, mental and sexual health, and more. They are also an advocacy organisation focusing on policy and funding for health and social care services.


Thanks to KCL's Student Opportunity Fund, we've been awarded £1,000 of funding towards social media advertising to collect more testimonies and spread harm reduction information to young people across the UK.

​Our fourth partner is Volteface: an independent research and advocacy organisation, that seeks to reduce the harm drugs pose to individuals and society, through evidence-based policy reform.
Our third partnership is with the fantastic team at Drugs and Me. They are a social enterprise for benefit-harm management in the context of drug use. They develop content, digital tools & research to help people make healthier and safer decisions while using drugs recreationally.

​We are proud to announce our second partner: Youth RISE. They mobilise young people to be engaged in harm reduction and drug policy reform to promote health and human rights.



​We are proud to announce our first partnership which is with SSDP UK, a student-led not-for-profit campaigning for harm reduction policies.