Who founded the Benzo Research Project?

In 2021, Monica Richards founded the Benzo Research Project as an independent initiative to understand and improve the lives of young people who use benzos. The initiative was constituted as an unincorporated charitable association in September 2023 by Richards alongside the other founding trustees AJ Martin, Joanna Bright, and Julie Uszpolewicz.

What does the Benzo Research Project do?

The Benzo Research Project conducts quantitative and qualitative research studies, policy analyses, and creates content relating to the non-medical use of benzodiazepines (benzos), with a focus on young people. BRP’s volunteers collaborate with key stakeholders both nationally and internationally, with the aim of reducing benzo- and benzo prohibition-related harms.

Though BRP’s charitable work focuses on young people in the UK, their volunteers hail from many countries across the globe.

Did the Benzo Research Project attend the United Nations?

Founder Monica Richards attended the 4th Meeting of the 66th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, Austria in December 2023 to share BRP’s research findings in an intervention statement for “Health and regulatory challenges posed by synthetic opioids and non-medical use of prescription drugs”.

What is BRP’s vision?

“To see a world where drug education, support services, and policy are both evidence-based and centred around reducing harm to young people's health and wellbeing.”

Test Your Benzos

Benzo Research Project

A grassroots initiative seeking to understand and
improve the lives of young people who use benzos

Join us at 7 pm 12th June for an exciting event! Click for more info...

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Who are we?

The Benzo Research Project (BRP) is a grassroots small charity run by young people volunteering from across the globe. Although from over 30 different nationalities and interdisciplinary backgrounds, we have shared the desire to improve the lives of young people who use benzodiazepines. Several of our members are also volunteers with Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP). Since July 2021, we have invested over 5,000 hours voluntarily into this project.

About us

What are our aims?

We have collected over 80 anonymous testimonies since March 2022 through our story-sharing platform hosted by our partner Drugs and Me. Testimonies were analysed to provide a clearer picture of young people's lived experiences with benzos, which is detailed in our 2022 report. These experiences continue to direct our outreach and harm reduction work.

Since starting this project, we have formed seven key partnerships with stakeholders and organisations relevant to our cause. Knowledge sharing is crucial to improving local services and emerging issues. We also want to build social media relationships to help grow each others' accounts and share information.

In December 2022, we hosted a hybrid, live streamed event at King's College London. We presented our work and key findings over the course of 16 months, followed by a debate on 'What should the future of UK drug policy look like?' You can watch it here.

We believe that the growing benzo problem in the UK is under-reported, and young people's voices and experiences aren’t heard in the conversation. We advocate for journalists to write articles that are informed by lived experiences, are unbiased and non-judgemental, so as to not demonise people who use drugs. Public opinion is a significant factor in UK drug policy decisions, making the media an important frontier for driving positive change.

Our social media team shares harm reduction and policy-related information on Instagram (@benzoresearchproject), Twitter (@benzoresearch), and TikTok (@benzoresearchproject). We have reached over 60,000 unique Instagram accounts, demonstrating demand for evidence-based harm reduction content tailored to young people.

Our volunteer team leads presenting at the BRP Report Launch & Drug Policy Debate event – December 2022. Photo by Nathan Frank.

Quick Stats:

Estimates from a survey conducted by The Bridge Project suggests that over 250,000 patients are being prescribed benzodiazepines and Z-drugs (BZDs) far beyond the recommended treatment duration, presenting a serious public health problem in the UK.
– Davies, Rae, and Montagu, 2017.

29.3% of those having taken a BZD under medical instruction have also used the same drug non-medically.
– Kapil et al., 2018.

Read the testimonies we received here.

LET'S TALK

We want to hear from you!

Feel free to reach out regarding partnerships, events, sponsorships, conferences, or questions.

Email: hello@brp.org.uk

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