Impact
Benzo Research Project Updates
Benzo Research Project Updates
Joanna and AJ ran a workshop titled Supporting Student Leaders in Harm Reduction at the annual National Student Drug and Alcohol Conference, hosted by SOS UK.
The workshop was delivered to university staff, student unions, and drug support staff at Middlesex University. We hope that this session provided some inspiration on how best to support developing student-led harm reduction initiatives across the UK. |
Following the continued rise of nitazenes found in illicit benzo supply, ITV News interviewed Monica Richards (Founder) about the realities faced by young people who use street benzos.
The video has been viewed over 200,000 times, meeting our aim to increase awareness about counterfeit benzos. Note: The term "study drugs" was incorrectly used by the reporter in this coverage to described benzos. Study drugs primarily include prescription stimulants such as amphetamine, methylphenidate and modafinil. You can watch the full TikTok here. |
Alongside numerous European civil society organisations, we have signed the manifesto laid out by Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network calling for drug policy that is safer, healthier, and more just.
"The 2024 European elections must bring a paradigm shift. This manifesto lays down a vision for a pragmatic, innovative, and human rights-centred European drug policy that will deliver healthier and safer communities." You can read and sign the manifesto here. |
Our 2022
testimony analysis report
was republished by Youth
RISE: a global
youth-led network advocating
for evidence-based drug
policies and harm reduction,
centring young people in the
conversation.
You can see our report on their website here. |
Our
Founder, Monica Richards was
interviewed as part of an
article covering a
counterfeit benzo operation
gone south. Ben Bryant's
article The
rise and fall of the
Benzo Bros' fake
Xanax
empire
delves into a large-scale
counterfeit benzo operation
in the context of the
broader illicit market, how
the pharmaceutical giant
Pfizer has responded, and
the negative impact this has
had on people in the absence
of sufficient education or
support.
Read the full article here. |
Following
the identification of strong
synthetic opioids in the
UK's illicit benzodiazepine
supply, Sky News invited our
Founder & Project Lead
to speak on behalf of the
Benzo Research
Project. Monica
Richards discusses
the motivations behind young
people's benzo use, the
harms of stigma around drug
use when accessing support,
and how young people can get
help and reduce
benzo-related
harms.
To watch the full interview, click here. |
Our
Founder, Monica
Richards' alma
mater King's College London
reported on her intervention
statement at the United
Nations Commission on
Narcotic Drugs on 5th
December 2023, citing the
Benzo Research Project as
"ground-breaking"!
To read the full article, click here. |
Our Research
co-leads, Joanna and
AJ were invited as
guest speakers to the London
Harm Reduction Reading
Group. The
meeting, hosted at Release,
focused on
engaging young
people who use drugs
with harm
reduction:
beginning with a
presentation from our team,
followed by a Q&A
discussion.
If you would like to read the paper we discussed, you can find it here. |
Our
testimonies were featured in
the Mental Health
and Drug Use
workshop for
the University
Mental Health Charter
(UMHC). This
insight-sharing event
– hosted by Student
Minds –
outlined the role
universities play in drug
policy. The speakers,
including our Research team
leads Joanna and AJ,
alongside Hanna
Head (SSDP),
highlighted the need for a
compassionate,
evidence-based, and
intersectional approach to
drug use on UK
campuses.
If you would like to watch the full webinar, please contact us. |
Our
Research team co-leads, Joanna
Bright and AJ
Martin joined
an incredible team of
prescribers and psychosocial
practitioners from NHS
Inclusion. Our
representatives presented
our 2022
report findings.
Bringing these together with
their team's practical
expertise, we began planning
a comprehensive,
trauma-informed treatment
pathway specifically
designed for people
struggling with benzo
dependence.
|
Our
Co-Head of Research, Joanna
Bright was invited
as a guest lecturer by the
University
of Manchester,
representing the Benzo
Research Project. Joanna
gave a lecture to
undergraduate student in the
Department
of Criminology,
presenting our findings from
our 2022
testimony analysis
report.
|
The Benzo
Research Project has become
a member of the National
Council for Voluntary
Organisations (NCVO).
NCVO is a membership
community of over 17,000
charities, voluntary
organisations and community
groups in
England.
Being an NCVO member will allow us to connect with other voluntary organisations, access support and training to continue developing our organisation. |
Our
Co-Head of Research, AJ
Martin, recently
wrote an article titled
Benzos
are like a box of
chocolates: How
tough drug laws lead
to counterfeit
drugs for
our partners at
Volteface.
AJ writes about how novel benzos – often "never marketed for medical use" – have continued circulating in the illicit drug supply after the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 and subsequent 2017 amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act 2017, signifying that the UK government's approach to drugs is "unfit for purpose". To read the full article, click here. |
Crew,
our partner and Scottish
drug support charity,
highlighted our work in
their 2021–22 drug
trend report. Their report
details drug trends and the
drivers behind drug-related
deaths in Scotland,
including the
396%
increase in deaths related
to 'any benzo' since
2011.
To read the full report, click here. |
Our
project lead Monica
and Research team co-leads,
Joanna
and AJ,
joined The News
Movement
and NTIA
(Night Time Industry
Association) at
the House of Commons to
speak to MPs about drug
policy and the #BringBackDrugTesting
campaign. The campaign calls
on the Home Office to
restore life-saving
drugs
testing services
at festivals across the
UK.
|
Hanna
Head (SSDP UK) spoke to our
project lead Monica
and Research team co-leads,
Joanna
and AJ,
to highlight the
"evidence-based, life-saving
work that students are
doing" in harm reduction.
The article highlights the
work of our project
alongside SSDP
Imperial, the Help not
Harm campaign, and
more.
To read the full article, click here. |
Our
project and work was
featured in an article
titled Students
present project
findings to
policy-makers and
professionals
by Kings College London's
News Centre.
|
Following
a successful abstract
submission, Joanna (Co-Head
of
Research) presented
our report findings
at the 16th Annual
International Society
for the Study of Drug
Policy (ISSDP)
conference,
hosted by RAND
Europe in Leuven,
Belgium. Other speakers at
ISSDP 2023 included
international drug policy
activists and scholars,
criminologists, physicians,
medical lawyers, and police
commissioners.
You can find our abstract here. |
Julie
(Head of Outreach) and Joanna
(Co-Head of Research &
Outreach) presented our
findings at the
Substance Misuse Best
Practice event
in Surrey, hosted by Catch22
Hampshire 24/7. Catch22
is a charity that designed
and delivers services from
children's social care to
health and wellbeing,
including a
holistic
psychosocial, harm
reduction, and family
support
approach to youth substance
use.
|
Our
research report was featured
by The
Alliance for
Benzodiazepine Best
Practices. The group
aim to raise awareness about
the dangers of
benzodiazepine use and to
promote safe
prescribing
practices. You
can find their evidence-based
resources for
prescribers and patients,
and various scientific
research studies and
papers, on their website.
|
Our
Co-Head of Research, AJ
Martin, wrote a blog
article for Drug
Science's Science Beats
Stigma campaign. In
the article, AJ writes about
his personal experiences
that led to his passion for
harm reduction. This passion
led him to help create the
Imperial
chapter of SSDP, and
join the Benzo Research
Project in summer
2021.
You can read the full article, click here. |
Our
Research team co-leads, AJ
and Joanna,
presented at the Drug
Science Street
Drugs Discussions on
Benzodiazepines.
The event was the
biggest in the
series, with
over 700 signups and 350
attendants including
psychopharmacologists and
NGO leaders. The research
team leaders went on to
present at the Drug Science
symposium to their
independent committee. You
can watch the recording on
YouTube here.
|
Our
founder and project lead Monica
Richards presented
at Imperial College London
alongside our adviser Ivan
Ezquerra Romano at
the Young Leaders in
Drug Policy event,
hosted by the
award-winning ICL
SSDP. You can watch
the recording on YouTube
here.
|
The International Drug
Policy Consortium (IDPC)
re-published our research
report! IDPC is a
global network advocating
for drug policies that
advance social justice and
human rights.
|
The Benzo
Research Project executive
team were featured on The
News Movement. Our founder
and several members of the
project were interviewed in
two videos: one on why
young people are taking
benzos, and another
on our
efforts to change
attitudes towards drug
policy in the
UK.
|
Our
project was spotlighted in
the Drug
Science Student Society
Network (SSN)
newsletter, sharing some
important findings from our
report
with students across the UK.
|
Drugs and
Alcohol Ireland re-published
our research report
in the Health Research Board
(HRB) National Drugs
Library. This will ensure
our report and the stories
shared will be brought to
the attention of
practitioners and
researchers across Ireland.
The report also featured in
the HRB
National Drugs Library
e-newsletter volume 18,
issue 12.
|
The blog
post authored by Joanna
Bright (Co-Head of
Research) and
Zara Nelson
(Outreach
Officer) was
shared by Dovetail.
Dovetail is an organisation
that provides training to
drug and alcohol services in
Queensland, Australia with a
specific focus on young
peoples' services.
|
Our Report
Launch and Drug Policy
event was shared on
the DrugWise
Daily newsletter: a
news service providing
coverage of all things
related to the drugs and
alcohol sector.
|
The Benzo
Research Project was
featured on ITV! Check
out George
Hancorn's
article on us, titled
Psychoactive
drugs being 'sold'
to children as young
as 15 on Instagram
for as little as
£1.
It's also available in
video form on their
Instagram, YouTube, and
website.
|
Our
project was featured in the
UK Drug
Testing Newsletter
by Zoom Testing. Zoom
Testing are a small company
that supply drug testing
kits to the UK.
|
Monica
Richards (Founder, Project
Lead) was featured in a news
article about the Benzo
Research Project titled
The
student-led project
aiming to shape
national drug
policy by
King's College London,
alongside our King's student
members.
|
The
Students' Union at UWE
Bristol featured the Benzo
Research Project on their
page about Mixing
Drugs and Alcohol,
encouraging students with
lived experience of benzo
use to share their stories.
|
Copyright ©️
2024 Benzo Research Project
|