Drugs and harm: a new agenda for a new government?

Conference Synopsis:
What is the UK’s drugs strategy? Is it working? What are the alternatives?

Aimed at policy-makers, drug agencies, charities, academics, lawyers, and members of the police, this conference will examine the current drugs control system, its effectiveness, and potential improvements. In the light of new research on the harm that drugs may cause to individuals and society, the conference will examine drugs in the context of family, education, welfare, mental illness, trafficking, crime, gang culture, and more.

This conference offers the opportunity to learn about, and engage with, the latest research on drugs, and also to exchange ideas with experts and practitioners from a diverse range of backgrounds. We will ask tough questions about the cultures of intoxication in the UK, and will examine effective solutions to the harm caused by drug use. Whatever its political hue, a new government will take office in 2010. What will be the constraints upon it in the area of drugs control? What advice would experts seek to give it? Are there differences in the way the major parties see the path ahead?

For all registration enquiries, please contact Mrs Janis Reeves: janis@cumberlandlodge.ac.uk or 01784 497794

Confirmed Speakers Include:
Dr Angus Bancroft, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh; Professor Shelia Bird, MRC Biostatistics Unit, Cambridge University; Malcolm Dean, Former Editor Society, The Guardian; Vivienne Evans, Chief Executive, Adfam; Dr Evan Harris MP, Oxford West and Abingdon; Roger Howard, Chief Executive, UK Drugs Policy Commission; Danny Kushlick, Head of Policy, Transform; Professor David Nutt, Head of Psychopharmacology, University of Bristol; Ben Page, Chairman, Social Research Institute, Ipsos MORI; HH Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins, QC, Designated Civil Judge, Worcester Combined Court Centre

In association with:
UK Drug Policy Commission