IMS

When Jack went to A&E in severe pain, he was left waiting, overlooked, and made to feel invisible. His story shows how stigma around ketamine use can block people from getting urgent care.

We need training, flexibility & compassion in services. Everyone deserves dignity.

Read more 👉 zurl.co/le3qM

Opportunity to join our team as a drug related deaths admin and research support officer (closing date 09/10/25). jobs.ljmu.ac.uk/vacancy/drug...

Evaluation of nitazene immunoassay test strips for rapid in-situ detection of nitazene and nitazene analogs in illicit drug samples - Harm Reduction Journal Background The detection of nitazene compounds in the United Kingdom has raised concerns among healthcare professionals, public health authorities, and law enforcement due to the increased risk of fat...

New paper published by Dr Victoria Marland and colleagues, an evaluation of nitazene test strips. Their conclusions recommend caution when used in front-line testing, and highlight false positive results associated with the presence of caffeine
harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Speaking today at #ISSDP2025 on the LJMU model of reviewing drug related deaths and the socioeconomic learnings from our panels

🔥 🌏 The ISSDP 2025 Conference Program is now live! 🌏 🔥

So many exciting sessions

There is still time to register, so don't miss this opportunity to join the biggest festival of #DrugPolicy research! Go to www.issdp.org

www.issdp.org/wp-content/u...

YouTube video by CranstounCharity New Challenges for Harm Reduction

Today is Harm Reduction Day. It is at the heart of what we do to ensure we work with compassion, respect and without judgment to provide support to people

Our Head of Harm Reduction Chris Rintoul met up with leads from charity partners, to discuss the future of Harm Reduction

youtu.be/QeNs6Sfu4Dc

Generation K: how ketamine became gen Z’s drug of choice Talk of an epidemic may be overblown, but increased abuse reflects the habits of young people in danger of becoming generation K

observer.co.uk/news/opinion... includes some of my thoughts and those of @profhrs.bsky.social

Gracias Bogotá, for a great #HR25 harm reduction conference. So many great presentations, our IMS posters are online ims.ljmu.ac.uk/posters #HR25Bogotá

Great presentation from Silvie Ojeda @metzineres.bsky.social about the colonisation of desire and identity as a method of control #HR25

We’re at #HR25 Bogotá, come and see us in the Exhibition Zone 🙌
And view our work in the Posters Space or here: ims.ljmu.ac.uk/posters

Colombia será el epicentro del cambio: llega HR25, la conferencia global sobre drogas y reducción de daños | Cambio Colombia Bogotá será sede de la edición 28 de la Conferencia Internacional sobre Reducción de Daños (HR25). Más de 1.000 delegados de 70 países se reunirán del 27 al 30 de abril en el Centro de Convenciones Ágora para discutir un nuevo enfoque en políticas de drogas centrado en los derechos humanos...

Cambio, one of Colombia's leading political magazines, covers the Harm Reduction International Conference 2025.
Read the full article at this link.👇

https://cambiocolombia.com/pais/colombia-sera-epicentro-cambio-llega-hr25-conferencia-global-drogas-reduccion-danos
#hr25bogotá

Opening ceremony for #HR25 well done to Lucy and Maddie for again bringing together a great conference programmme @harmreductionintl.bsky.social

We've now announced the first speakers for our LJMU Drug Related Deaths Conference 2025, this full-day online event takes place on Friday 28th March. Registration and speaker details here: ims.ljmu.ac.uk/DRDconference #DRDevent

The war on drugs has a disproportionately negative impact on Black, Brown and Indigenous people, and those living in low-and middle-income countries.  

Learn more about the effects of the war on drugs https://hri.global/publications/a-world-of-harm/

Drug Dealers Have Moved on to Social Media The marketing of illegal drugs on open platforms is “gaining prominence,” authorities note, while the number of drug transactions on the dark web has decreased in recent years.

I'm quoted in this Wired feature on drug mkts moving onto social media platforms

“Enforcement is driving the evolution of ever more sophisticated sales models. The only way such mkts can be defeated in the longer term is to replace them through legal regulation.”

www.wired.com/story/drug-d...
1/

We have 2 more webinars coming up in 2025 -

Exploring Cultural Experiences of Stigma
Thursday 23 January 2025 12.30pm – 2pm

Developing Inclusion – Substance use related stigma across general practice
Thursday 20 March
12.30pm – 2pm

www.ticketsource.co.uk/antistigmane...
Free event. All welcome.

Man in handcuffs holding drugs

"It’s a completely self-defeating public policy.”

Former UN high commissioner for human rights Louise Arbour tells The BMJ that the war on drugs has failed and that a public health focused approach is needed
www.bmj.com/content/387/...

LJMU Drug Related Deaths conference 2025 slide image

We're pleased to announce that our LJMU Drug Related Deaths Conference 2025 will take place online on Friday 28th March. Previous events have seen some great discussions and networking so we expect a really worthwhile event. Registration is now open here: ims.ljmu.ac.uk/DRDconference #DRDevent

Whilst % prevalence of any, Class A, and several individual drugs fell in both young adults and the general population, this was non-significant. Most people who use drugs still only use once or twice a year, and % reporting frequent use fell slightly.

New YP (under 18s) drug treatment data published. Cannabis and alcohol still by far the main drugs of concern, but ketamine presentations have increased by 2.6 % points since last year, and from 512 in 2021/2022 to 1201 in 2023/24 www.gov.uk/government/s...

Despite incredible advances made in the treatment of #HIV, there is still far too much stigma and misinformation surrounding the subject.

Here are five facts about HIV which are vital to understanding this #WorldAIDSDay

#UequalsU #CantPassItOn

The world can end AIDS – if everyone’s rights are protected. With human rights at the centre, with communities in the lead, the world can end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

Health is a human right. 🌍❤️

On #WorldAIDSDay, let’s ensure HIV prevention, treatment, & care are accessible to ALL—without stigma or discrimination.

Everyone deserves quality healthcare, no matter their status, gender, or where they live.

#EndAIDS: bit.ly/3Z5Ot5P

Thanks for organising, it was a really interesting and informative event on Ketamine related harms. This is a link to the briefing we shared on Ketamine implicated in deaths: ims.ljmu.ac.uk/PublicHealth...

Three things you did not know about drug use and hepatitis.

Learn more in the hepatitis chapter in the Global State of Harm Reduction 2024 report. tinyurl.com/GSHR2024

Four things you probably did not know about harm reduction for Indigenous communities.

Learn more tinyurl.com/GSHR2024

Join us for the online launch of "A World of Harm: How U.S. taxpayers fund the global war on drugs over evidence-based health responses".
Register now! tinyurl.com/a-world-of-h...

Heroína en Bogotá: Así es la primera sala de consumo supervisado de Suramérica En el centro de Bogotá funciona Cambie, la primera sala de consumo supervisado de drogas inyectables de Colombia y Suramérica. Esta estrategia de reducción de riesgos y daños busca prevenir sobredosis...

Fantastic to see such a positive intro to South America’s first official safe injection site in the “extreme centrist” El Espectador this week #harmreduction www.elespectador.com/investigacio...

Was MDMA really better back in the day? Loads of old-school ravers say that today’s MDMA is shit. Is it true? Or is there something else going on? We asked some experts to find out.

Interesting piece on its own merits, but also highlights how non-drug factors affect the way people respond to substances. And thats relevant to whether its alcohol, caffeine, or LSD. theface.com/life/mdma-dr...

YouTube video by Harm Reduction International The Global State of Harm Reduction 2024 Report Launch

The recording of the launch of our flagship publication, the Global State of Harm Reduction 2024, is now up on our YouTube with subtitles in English, French and Spanish. #harmreduction #drugpolicy #warondrugs
youtu.be/D19aEeM1Ics?...

Poppers, the Politics of Exemption and the Characteristics of Poppers Users in the annual English Festival Study, 2014–23 Abstract. This paper explores the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics, self-reported alkyl nitrite (‘poppers’) use and sexual behaviours

Presented my paper on poppers use and the social, policy and sexual implications at #SSSS24 - full paper is available here: academic.oup.com/bjc/advance-...