‘The 100th suicide prevention bench has been unveiled by charity 'Legend on the Bench' - each carrying details on how to access immediate support.’ A simple but wonderful initiative to help us connect with one another. news.sky.com/video/mental...

‘I Spent Years Policing Glasgow’s Drug Wars — The Real Victims Were Never the Dealers, They Were the Ones We Chose to Ignore’ Valued LEAP speaker and retired undercover operative Simon McLean: nakedcitymagazine.substack.com/p/vice-i-spe...

‘What’s inside these big yellow boxes? A life-saving world-first for Aberdeen’ Naloxone access now on the streets in a similar fashion to defibrillators. www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/lifestyle...

‘Record drug seizures driven by jump in cannabis and ketamine haul. Border Force officials made 65 seizures of herbal cannabis that contained 100kg or more.’ www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

“When he died, police didn’t even call to tell me – a symptom of our indifference to a problem that claims so many lives in the UK...” ‘I lost my brother James twice – once to addiction, then to overdose’ observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

UK police have been issued new guidance on how to handle medical cannabis cases. This is an important step as there has been an ongoing legacy in this area whereby patients have been treated poorly by services in some reported cases. www.leafie.co.uk/news/uk-poli... By @teamleafie.bsky.social

This, from Canada, says a lot. It’s also representative of most countries and regions. ‘Commissioner releases statement on toxic drug crisis, calls on government to put politics aside to save lives’ bchumanrights.ca/news-and-eve...

A look at the left-leaning parties and the pledge to reform drug laws. The Green Party are pushing forward with actual policy proposals and the Lib Dems historically have been progressive but what about other left-leaning parties? novaramedia.com/2025/11/03/z... by Kojo Koram

“England’s Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has called for the immediate closure of all young offender institutions (YOIs), warning that youth custody has become a ‘holding pen’ for children failed by the state...” www.thejusticegap.com/a-holding-pe... via @justicegap.bsky.social

‘Searches for lorazepam surged after release of The White Lotus, data shows’ “Third series of TV drama spiked interest in anti-anxiety drug amid warnings over illicit production of ‘benzos’” www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Interesting news that the role of Police and Crime Commissioner is to be abolished, with it stated by the current Home Secretary that it has been “a failed experiment”. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

‘Black Londoners nearly three times more likely to be strip searched than white suspects’ www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...

‘Cocaine carnage is coming to Britain’ www.newstatesman.com/politics/soc...

“Deaths involving ketamine have increased twenty-fold since 2014, according to research by King’s College London, the University of Hertfordshire and Manchester Metropolitan University.” www.drinkanddrugsnews.com/ketamine-dea...

‘US war on “narco-terrorists” violates the right to life, warn UN experts after deadly vessel strike’ www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

“All door staff should carry life-saving drug” ‘A door supervisor has said a life-saving drug should be carried as standard by security staff, after he helped a man during an overdose’ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

‘Thousands of opioid deaths missed off official figures’ More than 13,000 heroin and opioid deaths have been missed off official statistics in England and Wales, raising concerns about the impact on the government's approach to tackling addiction. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

‘Health, Not Handcuffs, Are the Path to Ending Opioid Crisis’ “Drug addiction does not exist in a vacuum. It stems from underlying trauma and mental health issues, which require proper treatment to manage.” www.newsweek.com/health-not-h...

‘Ukrainian Government adopts National Drug Policy Strategy until 2030 and approves its implementation plan’ idpc.net/news/2025/09...

‘Half of Guernsey's deputies support decriminalising cannabis, according to research by the BBC.’ “Eleven of the island's 38 politicians have said they are either undecided on the issue, or will wait to see any proposals before making a decision.” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

‘Scottish drug deaths fall but remain worst in Europe’ We need to do so much more. If we’re serious about saving lives then we need drastic changes to policies and attitudes. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Crucial study & findings released regarding the hotly contested decriminalisation process in Oregon: “many claimed that Measure 110 was responsible for rising crime and overdose deaths. However, our findings offer little to no support for those claims,” www.pdx.edu/news/psu-res...

‘A future on our own terms: The 2025 Support. Don’t Punish Global Day of Action’ This is a wonderful and inspiring roundup of events and advocacy across the globe, collated by @idpc.net idpc.net/blog/2025/07...

Police-led diversion schemes, what do we know? In this interview from Ben Twomey for Policing TV, Ben speaks to Matthew Bacon, Senior Criminology Lecturer at Sheffield University. policing.tv/videos/matth...

“How can it be possible that seven years have passed since my son Ben died…” ‘Let’s stop judging and start listening.’ By Hilary Mills, a very personal testimony of how our attitudes towards people and drugs impacts families from @anyoneschild.bsky.social anyoneschild.org/2025/07/how-...

“former Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales has criticised his successor for lack of provision of support for offenders who use drugs.” Arfon Jones, advocate of reform and a member of LEAP continues to make the case for support over punishment: www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/2529953...

With news this week of senior police officers calling for Class A penalties, here’s a different police perspective from LEAP Scotland representative and former undercover operative, Simon McLean: ‘We’ve talked long enough – change the law on cannabis now’ www.thenational.scot/comment/2529...

‘Rise in drug taking and self-harm at women's jail’ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

“LAST week, I had the privilege of attending the Association of Scottish Superintendents Annual Conference, accompanied by my former colleague and retired inspector Ian Andrew.” 'We have to stop criminalising people who need help.’ www.thenational.scot/comment/2521...

We’re in a state of shock and grief to learn of the passing of Peter, a friend of us here and someone we’ve worked with many times. Rest well Peter - you’ve most certainly earned that rest. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

‘Rough sleeping to finally be decriminalised with scrapping of 'cruel' 200-year law. The Labour government has pledged to scrap the Vagrancy Act which has criminalised rough sleeping since the Napoleonic Wars in 2026’ www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

‘Britain must decriminalise cannabis – or remain in the dark ages’ “Criminalising drugs ruins lives and wastes police resources. Other countries realise this – when will UK politicians wake up?” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

‘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.” www.gov.uk/government/p...

New report is out today from the Independent London Drugs Commission, with recommendations for cannabis, including decriminalisation. news.sky.com/story/sadiq-...

One way of reducing burdens on prisons is simple and sensible reforms around drug policy. ‘New prisons to be built and inmates released early, justice secretary says, as MoJ warns men’s jails could run out of space – as it happened’ www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

‘Our two sons died on the same night after taking a Class A drug young people love... here is why I want it legalised’ www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

‘As a senior police officer I saw first hand how the war on drugs fails’ www.thenational.scot/politics/251... LEAP’s Simon McLean once more on the case.

So… this is unusual then! ‘Why Britain’s police forces have taken to cultivating cannabis’ “An obscure legal argument has encouraged entrepreneurialism” www.economist.com/britain/2025...

‘Health Minister confirms work on cannabis laws but warns of resourcing challenges’ In Jersey, there’s a slow but steady progress. jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2025/04...

‘UK Govt. Publishes Report Indicating Drug Policing Boosts Violence’ Featuring comments from Neil Woods: “We are talking about the very fabric of security and safety in our society.” filtermag.org/uk-goverment... By @matthabusby.bsky.social

“Last year, the state [Oregon] ended a trailblazing law decriminalizing possession. Drug users in some counties are now in and out of jail, without lawyers, struggling to get treatment” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

‘Latest European Web Survey on Drugs reveals drug use habits of over 66 000 Europeans’ www.euda.europa.eu/news/2025/la...

Time to get out facts and figures on! “New survey results released today by the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) reveal the current drug use habits of over 66 000 Europeans” www.euda.europa.eu/news/2025/la...

There’s long been a large debate on rehab, the style, context, setting, structure, and this article dives into much of it. ‘It’s not ethical and it’s not medical’: how UK rehab clinics are cashing in on NAD+’ www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

“For years, Judy Chang has been a leader in the movement for drug-user rights. Since 2017, she’s served as executive director of INPUD, the International Network of People Who Use Drugs.” - @inpud.bsky.social always have great people and great messaging. filtermag.org/activist-jud...

We’ll be reading this thread on Project ADDER with keen interest. bsky.app/profile/prof...

‘‘There has never been a more dangerous time to take drugs’: the rising global threat of nitazenes and synthetic opioids’ theconversation.com/there-has-ne...

‘UK Poised to Make the Mistake of Ramping Up Ketamine Criminalization’ “The government might now redesignate ketamine as a Class A substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.” filtermag.org/uk-ketamine-...

Privileged to have been referenced in this letter from Green Party’s Zoë Garbett in her assessment and endorsement for further action in drug policy reform and the London Assembly. @zoegarbett.bsky.social writes about LEAP’s work. Read in full via this link: www.london.gov.uk/zoe-garbett/...

Very interesting from @cooperandersonn.bsky.social The story of nine veterans who have suffered trauma and PTSD and their experiences with psychedelic treatments. www.cbsnews.com/news/veteran...