James Nicholls

It was great to meet everyone. Should be a fantastic project!

Indeed - Orwellian in a different sense! Not sure I’ve come across quite such purple prose in a similar doc before. Can you think of any?

That's exactly what I thought.

The Government's response to the recent industry-dominated Licensing Taskforce report is quite a thing to behold. Regulatory capture as marketing copy... www.gov.uk/government/p...

I've written a piece for @addiction-ssa.org on Alcoholics Anonymous, exploring it's current role - and tensions - within the current recovery landscape 90 years after its first meetings were held. Please share 🙏

www.addiction-ssa.org/features/ess...

#alcoholicsanonymous #recovery #addiction

Studying moralities in drug policy: An editorial introduction Published in Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy (Vol. 32, No. 4, 2025)

Check out our new issue on moralities in drug policy. Fantastic editorial and most of the papers are open access: Studying moralities in drug policy: An editorial introduction www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Having observed the shift in youth drinking from ‘Is this a thing??’ 15 years ago, to many years of ‘I reckon it is due to x, y or z…’ It’s great hear to mature, informed consideration of the wider social realities that it reflects - even tho most (speaking as a parent of teens) are quite melancholy

Alcohol Alert June 2025 Alcohol Alert Podcast · Episode

This is a great discussion of generational change, risk, anxiety and drinking behaviours featuring @amypennay.bsky.social and @jholmessheff.bsky.social from the @ias.org.uk podcast. open.spotify.com/episode/1avJ...

Drugs campaigner Peter Krykant dies, aged 48 Peter Krykant, a former addict, set up a supervised facility from a van which he took around Glasgow.

This is incredibly sad news. Peter made a huge difference to the world. Such a loss to so many people. RIP.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Sly Stone: A funky life – in pictures The singer and front man of Sly and the Family Stone was known for his big style and even bigger hair.

Yesterday 😞 Sly Stone: A funky life - in pictures www.bbc.com/news/article...

Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) Sly & The Family Stone · Fresh · Song · 1973

RIP Sly Stone. Absolute pioneer, and also made one of the greatest cover versions ever recorded open.spotify.com/track/52Xfwd...

The complexity of stigma demands nuanced debate Published in Addiction Research & Theory (Ahead of Print, 2025)

A further (final) reply to the 'positive stigma' debate (DM if you need full text), myself and @jamesnicholls.bsky.social

The complexity of stigma demands nuanced debate www.tandfonline.com/eprint/69FCR...

A whole-system response to drug prevention in the UK Report on the long-term prevention of drug use and related harms among young people.

Pleased to see the first report published by the ACMD’s standing committee on prevention. We make several recommendations to government on the importance of a whole system approach to drug prevention / www.gov.uk/government/p...

Moving it to the PSA is an interesting approach.. What’s your view on that?

Final report from the London Drugs Commission calls for cannabis to be moved from the MDA 1971 to the PSA 2016, effectively decriminalising possession, but not creating a legal retail market - on grounds that the public health risks of commercialisation outweigh potential benefits of legal supply.

Congratulations Ben!

I was delighted to contribute to this fantastic special edition of @deppjournal.bsky.social on morality and drug policy - and to work with such a great editorial team. The introduction (below) sets out clearly where we are, and where we need to go next.

This looks great! Looking forward to reading it.

Really enjoyed working on this paper, which gets into the weeds of UK alcohol licensing, multi-level governance and the power of policy instruments.

Local authorities are bound not just by primary legislation, but a tangle of statutory guidance that significantly constrains their autonomy.

This is out! Exciting!
@gabrielcaluzzi.bsky.social @soc-researcher.bsky.social @jholmessheff.bsky.social

Identifying innovative approaches to the temporal availability of alcohol in Great Britain—a policy analysis In Great Britain, local authorities responsible for alcohol premises licensing produce a statement of licensing policy setting out how they intend to exercise their statutory licensing functions in...

Open access: Identifying innovative approaches to the temporal availability of alcohol in Great Britain—a policy analysis by Megan Cook et al @jamesnicholls.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Victorian Narcos: Tea Starts A Drug War (Ep 1) Podcast Episode · Empire · 16/04/2025 · 39m

New series on the @empirepoduk.bsky.social podcast looks at the opium/tea/silver trade in China/India (ie the ‘opium wars’) podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/e...

Harm Reduction Journal The Harm Reduction Journal is an open access, community-focused journal for research on reducing risks and harms associated with drug use, gambling, online ...

#DrugPolicy researchers:

💥Harm Reduction Journal is calling for senior editors and associate editors. 💥 As a Q1 open access journal this is a great time to apply to contribute to excellence in #HarmReduction scholarship👇

harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com

How Fomo – the fear of missing out – affects young people’s binge drinking Research shows the fear of missing out on a good time while drinking usually outweighs any concerns young adults have about doing something they might regret.

This is an interesting piece on regret and FOMO in relation to drinking, but I think the whole framework, with a theory of 'planned behaviour' risks misunderstanding or misrepresenting the fundamental ambivalence of drinking & drunkenness. 1/5
theconversation.com/how-fomo-the...

I agree with that analysis. It made me think of your work, as well as Griffin, Szmigin, Measham, Backley etc from around the same time. Carnival, innit!

ISSDP is now on BlueSky - if you are interested in #DrugPolicy please consider following. 👇

😅

That's a lovely (and fitting) tribute to Nick. I should point out it is @jamesmorris24.bsky.social, not me, who co-wrote it though! Not the first, or last time, we've stood in for each other 😉

Disclosure - One More Fix A radical new plan to help curb Scotland’s drugs crisis. Will a new centre where people can inject illegal drugs under medical supervision actually save lives?

BBC documentary following the development and first weeks of The Thistle safer drug consumption facility

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Thanks for the invitation. It was great to chat with everyone! Lots of really interesting comments and ideas.