The Drug Science Podcast

Dr Gillian Shorter is currently a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast, with 17 years’ research experience on substance use and allied works. Her main research focus is supporting people who use drugs or alcohol who are not seeking formal treatment. She led the evaluation of the UK’s first unsanctioned drug consumption site in Glasgow, Scotland run by Peter Krykant, and has an interest in developing models for overdose prevention centres including community engagement, evaluation, understanding, and delivery in partnerships with people who have lived or living experience of substance use. Matt Southwell is a high-level advocate, technical advisor and drug user activist. He was one of the UK’s first generation of harm reduction workers in the late 1980s founding the pioneering and award-winning Healthy Options Team (HOT). In 1999 Mat decided to come out publicly as a drug user on a BBC documentary leading to dismissal from his position in the NHS Drug Services and the loss of his successful private consulting firm. Since this time Mat has supported drug user organisations and led different drug user networks from the local to the global level. Mat is currently Project Manager for the European Network of People who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD). Is the UK on its way to opening first official drug injection sites? How can one influence police officials and politicians to lobby for a positive change? How effective are these solutions in preventing drug related deaths?Tune in to listen to this highly insightful and simply important episode.  EuroNPUDSupervised Injection FacilitiesHarm reductioncoActOverdose Prevention CentresNeedle and syringe programmesReducing drug-related harms in Sandwell: the need and feasibility of an overdose prevention serviceOpioid agonist therapyMethadone BuprenorphineDiamorphine (Heroin-assisted treatment)Drug Science Enhanced Harm Reduction Working Group Illicit drugs classification in the UKPeter KrykantCAS Baluard BarcelonaDrug consumption rooms ★ Support this podcast ★

Libby and Ben are third-year students from Swansea University and the University of York, who are deeply interested in the use of psychedelics in medicine and drug policy. At their universities, they are presidents of their respective Psychedelics in Medicine societies which raise awareness on the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs among fellow students. Tune in to the episode to find out about their journeys into the world of Drug Science and how to get involved yourself!  Get in touch with the Student Society Network! Find out more about the Drug Science Student Society Network Psychedelics in Medicine Podcast SerotoninNeuroscientifically ChallengedPsilocybin LSDBen SessaMDMAMDMA and psychotherapy in alcohol dependence treatmentBrain on LSD imagingPsycareDrugs Harm ScaleProject Twenty21Drug Science Student Society NetworkBrain and Mind Made Simple by David NuttUK Patient Conference: Medical Cannabis Awareness Week 2022Medical cannabis awareness week Anything Can HappenSecondary School Education ResourcesTransform DrugsAnyone’s ChildMisuse of Drugs Act 1971Harm Reduction ★ Support this podcast ★

Mattha Busby is a freelance journalist for publications including the Guardian, Observer, London Times, Vice, Jacobin and Leafly. Based in Mexico, Mattha writes about health, drugs, nutrition, human rights, blockchain, the environment, and events in Latin America. 'Should All Drugs Be Legalized?’ reads the title of his first book, listen to this week’s episode to find out the answer!Should All Drugs Be LegalizedMexican drug warMedical cannabisOaxaca Awakn Life Sciences GroupIbogaineAyahuascaPsilocybin Jamaican Psilocybin RetreatsMaria SabinaPeyoteR. Gordon Wasson“Seeking the Magic Mushroom” by Gordon WassonMezcal CocaineThe Peyote DanceAldous Huxley‘I’m a lighter me’: Can Mike Tyson and psychedelics help boxers with brain trauma?Hunter S. TompsonMexico’s Supreme Court rules personal marijuana possession legal, againJoaquín "El Chapo" GuzmánJalisco New Generation CartelDutch Ecstasy “Shop”MDMALSD could help alcoholics stop drinking, AA founder believedMick Lynch ★ Support this podcast ★

This week’s episode features Andrew Gold of the On the Edge with Andrew Gold podcast. Andrew Gold is a journalist and TV presenter who lived in 6 countries, producing documentaries on bizarre and controversial subcultures. His documentaries range from the award-winning Exorcism: The Battle for Young Minds to stories on hunted UFOs.  ★ Support this podcast ★

Professor Badiani received his doctoral degree in Medicine and Surgery from Sapienza University of Rome and carried out post-doctoral research in Italy (CNR), Canada (CSBN), and USA (University of Michigan) to then return to Sapienza University Medical School as Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, progressing to the rank of Full Professor in 2008. At Sapienza he also served as Associate Chief Physician in the Drug Addiction unit of the University Hospital. Additionally, he has been President of the European Behavioural Pharmacology Society (EBPS) from 2011 to 2013. Professor Badiani conducts research in the field of drug addiction with the focus on the role of environmental factors in determining individual vulnerability to drug addiction in both humans and animals. In this episode of Drug Science podcast you’ll learn about the most recent research on the science of drug addiction from a leading expert in the field. Jane StewartDopamine Terry RobinsonCocaine AmphetamineDrug sensitization (reverse tolerance)PsychotomimetismPsychosisIncentive sensitization theory of addiction Kent C BerridgeMorphineHeroin Adrenal glandHuda AkilStriatumNucleus accumbensFrontal cortexOpiatePsychostimulant Naloxone precipitated withdrawal increases dopamine release in the dorsal striatum of opioid dependent menRussell’s Circumplex Models ★ Support this podcast ★

Professor Allan Young is a psychopharmacologist and the Director of the Centre for Affective Disorders in the Department of Psychological Medicine in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. Prof Young is the clinical academic lead in the Psychological Medicine and Integrated Care Clinical Academic Group in the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust where he is also a Consultant Psychiatrist and the head of the National Affective Disorders Tertiary Clinic.  Professor Young’s research interests focus on the cause and treatments for severe psychiatric illnesses, particularly mood disorders like depression. He has received research grant funding from the UK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, and numerous other respected funding agencies worldwide. He has published over 400 peer-reviewed publications and a number of books about psychopharmacology and affective disorders. According to the 2014 Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher list, Professor Young was recently ranked as one of the world's leading scientific minds in the field of Psychiatry and Psychology. DepressionBipolar disorderMajor depressive episodeAnhedoniaICD-10DSM-5Atypical depressionImmuno-metabolic depressionSSRIRapid cycling bipolar disorderTricyclic antidepressantsMonoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)Dopamine receptor D2Cognitive Remediation TherapyInstitute of Psychiatry, Psychology & NeuroscienceCBTKetamineEsketamine: Ketamine nasal spray BioavailabilityPsilocybin: From Serendipity to Credibility?COMPASS Pathways ★ Support this podcast ★

Listen in to hear Robin’s valuable perspective on matters such as assisted death, private education and the difference between a debate and a conversation. The Demon-Haunted WorldThe Infinite Monkey CageAssisted dyingSection 28Peter Singer if…Frankie HowerdAmusing Ourselves to Death ★ Support this podcast ★

Coming from Canada, home to one of the most progressive drug addiction services in the world, Manisha was reporting for VICE News in their new documentary 'Beyond Fentanyl' which looks at how drugs like “benzos,” "dope” and “tranq” are ravaging North American communities and how U.S. policy affected the latest flood of synthetic street drugs. Tune in to this week’s episode for a VICE  journalist’s perspective on drug policies around the world.  OxycodoneHeroinFentanylBenzodiazepinesDowner and upper drugsDrug overdoseNoradrenalineLofexidineAwakn clinic“This Is Something That Changed My Life”: A Qualitative Study of Patients' Experiences in a Clinical Trial of Ketamine Treatment for Alcohol Use DisordersibogainePsilocybinAyahuascaDMTToad venom5-MeO-DMTSupervised injection sitesNaloxoneBristol drug testingThe LoopMephedroneMonkey dustBath Salts drugoxycontin crisisCannabisBeyond Fentanyl documentary  ★ Support this podcast ★

This week’s episode features Professor Bruce Alexander, a psychologist and professor emeritus from Vancouver, BC, Canada, author of two books about addiction: Peaceful Measures: Canada's Way Out of the War on Drugs and The Globalization of Addiction: A Study in Poverty of the Spirit. Professor Alexander conducted a series of experiments into drug addiction known as the Rat Park experiments. Which brought into light the true complexity of addiction and the influence of our environment on how we use drugs and how they affect us. Listen to this episode to find out why the “demon drug myth” is extremely out of date with the scientific world and what we can do to debunk it. Skin poppersHeroinMorphineDemon drug mythIan KershawRat parkHow permanent was Vietnam drug addiction ★ Support this podcast ★

This week’s episode features English television and radio presenter, and model Melanie Sykes.Melanie is an advocate for medical cannabis use for childhood epilepsy and other chronic conditions. In 2021 she became an Ambassador in Medcan Support - a non-profit community interest company who provide free resources and educational material on medical cannabis, the endocannabinoid system and the positive outcomes cannabis treatment has had on so many people throughout the UK. With her support, she helps fight the stigma and raises other issues which are preventing access to the natural medicine.Listen to this episode of the podcast to find out more about medical cannabis and also how an autism diagnosis at 51 can change your life!  Don’t ‘Talk to FRANK’ but do check out the Frank magazine -> The Frank Magazine CannabisAutismHarry ThompsonADHDNeurodivergenceMedcan supportThe Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the SpectrumThe Frank MagazineHempWeed the PeopleEpilepsyProject Twenty21William Broke O’Shaughnessy ★ Support this podcast ★