This is a hugely important editorial that sets out how UK Government proposals to reform alcohol licensing will undermine the entire purpose of the licensing system. It will explicitly move the focus from protecting public health and social order to promoting economic goals and business priorities.

New @addictionjournal.bsky.social editorial on the licensing reforms currently being rushed through by the UK Government. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... The Call for Evidence closes on November 6th www.gov.uk/government/c...

Plans to rapidly overhaul alcohol licensing in England and Wales have just been published. They're being sold as ‘tearing up outdated licensing rules’, but could seriously undermine democratic accountability and local control. The devil (as ever) is in the details. www.gov.uk/government/n...

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

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....

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...

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...

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

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...

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...

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.

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.

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

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....

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...

#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

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...

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

BBC documentary following the development and first weeks of The Thistle safer drug consumption facility www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

New RAND Europe review for the Home Office finds that drug-related law enforcement activities are of limited effectiveness in reducing violence, and may even increase it www.gov.uk/government/p...

Closing the loop ... our response to the responses to our paper on alcohol and pleasure is now available. Thanks again to the respondents 🙏, and to everyone who has commented in person or online. It's been a great discussion so far, and hopefully continues. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Lots of mine, too. Including the 1869 classic 'Regarding the effects of remedies upon language' 😡

Just out in #HarmReductionJournal: another article from our realist review of international evidence on overdose prevention centres (AKA drug consumption rooms, supervised injecting facilities), showing how and for whom they work #harmreduction #OPCPrep 1/7 links.springernature.com/f/a/hWOfNJIE...

Latest opioid dependence prevalence estimates for Scotland published today. publichealthscotland.scot/media/32049/...

The See Beyond Scotland campaign will take its roadshow to Edinburgh Waverly and Glasgow Central next month! 🗣️Prof Tessa Parkes & Dr Hannah Carver discuss the campaign and how the media can play a part in reducing stigma around alcohol and drugs. shaap.org.uk/blog/411-how...

... and also this from @samuelacuff.bsky.social and Justin Strickland (not on this site, I think?). Another thoughtful and constructive commentary. Thanks! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Our response to the commentaries is in the pipeline.

Thanks also to @amypennay.bsky.social and @birdmichael.bsky.social for this great commentary. It's been fantastic to read such constructive and insightful responses to our discussion paper 🙏 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Thanks @jamesmorris24.bsky.social and @dremmadavies.bsky.social for this great commentary on our paper about alcohol research and pleasure!

The dataset from my project on illicit alcohol 1780-1914 is now available here doi.org/10.5518/1290. It includes criminal justice, licensing, tax and mortality data. Should be useful for people interested crime history and alcohol policy

Really interesting paper on how and when drug-taking passes as 'virtuous' in neoliberal culture (clue - be middle class, and take psychedelics....)

Thrilled to have our systematic review of the differences in the way women and men have been studied in alcohol research over the past decade up online at IJDP - www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti....

This is *highly* relevant to current debates about alcohol messaging and whether a focus on 'no safe level'/cancer risk will prove an effective strategy. Whilst informed choice is important, such messages seem to have a weak/mixed impact on behaviour...

THREAD: As you may know, Nick Heather passed away last month. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_He.... His funeral is later today, and I thought I would summarize some of his contributions to the addictions field. This isn’t an obituary, or an exhaustive list of career highlights (1/n)

Hugely grateful to the team at The Thistle Safer Drug Consumption Facility for showing me round the service this morning. It’s a really welcoming space, with some fantastic design features. Great to chat with people and hear about how the first few weeks have progressed.

Important new evidence published today: large-scale DofE trial (N=12,166) found that two universal MH awareness interventions, in secondary schools, led to an *increase* in emotional symptoms at long term (9-12 month) follow up tinyurl.com/4ffday8y Thread below /1

Please to be on BBC radio Ulster earlier talking about @jamesnicholls.bsky.social and our team's independent review of the Northern Ireland Licensing system. Starts at 12.04. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

***New SARG report*** Our review of Northern Ireland's alcohol licensing system led by colleagues at ISMH at University of Stirling is now out. You can read the full report here: www.communities-ni.gov.uk/publications... And there's a nice write-up on the BBC here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Our independent review of the licensing system in Northern Ireland has been published. A key feature is the ‘surrender principle’: a 1-in-1-out system for pubs and off-licences, so this a major focus of the study – but lots of other novel features as well. www.communities-ni.gov.uk/publications...

As a parent, I've always found this an intriguingly pervasive myth. I also *wanted* it to be true intuitively, but knew the evidence wasn't there. I often wonder what makes it so attractive. The sense of parental agency? The 'continental' vibe?

Today the ONS has published the latest data on alcohol-specific deaths, covering 2023. It's a worrying picture. There were 10,473 deaths across the UK, and the rate has continued to rise in England ever since the pandemic.

This looks like a pretty comprehensive review of the current evidence around the public health impacts of cannabis legalisation in the US and Canada. Finds increased adult, but not youth, use; and more acute poisonings, but mixed on disorders and other MH effects www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Grateful to @ijdrugpolicy.bsky.social for the opportunity to write this commentary on the 'long waves' model of drinking behaviours. It's a persuasive theory, and a useful lens for looking at changing drinking behaviours over longer time periods. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Also very sad to hear this news. Nick was a brilliant scholar, but also a lovely - and entirely unique - person. He'll be missed ♥

Final day to submit abstracts for #ISSDP2025! Don’t miss your chance to join this celebration of #DrugPolicy research from across the globe 🌏 in beautiful Manchester UK 🇬🇧! PS We are a super friendly bunch too 👋

And findings from the first #DCR albeit unsanctioned by @peterkrykant.bsky.social would echo this too doi.org/10.1016/j.dr... Lovely to hear that they are busy, well done to Saket, Lynn and the team #TheThistle #Glasgow

Not a surprise, given consumption trends. But carrying out our needs assessment in Edinburgh, we were struck by the extent to which an assumption SDCFs would mostly cater to opioid use persisted in many quarters (though not among people with living experience) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

JUST PUBLISHED: UK government’s response to #ACMD advice on #nitazenes assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/679a44...