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What is the UK medical cannabis industry looking like in 2024?
We are 6 years on from legalisation of cannabis-based medical products in the UK and although many patients have now been able to access these products, many others are still struggling to get access.
In this episode of the Drug Science podcast, Prof. David Nutt is joined by three leading experts in cannabis science and the evolving landscape of regulation. Dr. Callie Seaman, Dr. Leon Barron, and Michael Sassano share their insights into the future of cannabis as a medicine, the current regulatory environment, and the scientific innovations driving the industry forward
Cannabis Industry Council
Medical Cannabis Working Group
SOMAI Pharmaceuticals
Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society
London Resilience Clinic
German medical cannabis market
NHS Cannabis-based products for medicinal use
Cost effectiveness paper
HHS report
This episode has been supported by the Cannabis Industry Council
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In this episode, we meet with Darren Murphy, a Chemsex Specialist Practitioner at Forward Leeds, to discuss chemsex, addiction, as well as addressing the link with the LGBTQ+ community. Darren shares his personal journey, navigating the challenges of drug addiction and everything which came with it. Realising the limited support available for people engaging in chemsex, Darren shares how he uses his experiences to help others overcome similar struggles.
ChemSex and Being Safer
Methamphetamine
mephedrone
GHB
Poppers
Cocaine
Mdma
Ketamine
Eating disorder
HIV
Narcotics Anonymous
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In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Simon Ruffell, a psychiatrist and ayahuasca researcher with extensive experience working with Indigenous communities in the Amazon Basin. He discusses the potential of Indigenous medicines to complement Western psychiatric care and reduce relapse rates. Dr. Ruffell compares Western and Indigenous approaches to using spiritual plants, addressing the ongoing debate about how to respectfully integrate Indigenous medicine into Western healthcare as well as highlighting the key differences between commercial ayahuasca retreats and authentic Indigenous practices. Lastly, he discusses aspects of Shipibo culture and a journey into Shamanism.
Ayahuasca
DMT
Psilocybin
Psychosis
Revolving door syndrome
Shipibo
Heroic Hearts
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Dr Simon Ruffell
Onaya Health
Onaya Science
Mind over matter
Participation in an indigenous Amazonian-led ayahuasca retreat associated with increases in nature relatedness
Ceremonial Ayahuasca in Amazonian Retreats
Modulatory effects of ayahuasca on personality structure in a traditional framework
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In this episode, we meet with Dr Karenza Moore as she discusses changes in drug trends in the UK, focusing on the motivations, risks, and patterns of drug use, particularly among young people. Karenza identifies trends in drug use, including the impact of the lockdown on substance abuse. She also examines various drug trends within dance music culture, which leads to a discussion of safer partying practices, with a particular focus on the LGBT community and the importance of staying safe during a night out. Finally she addresses the challenges of conducting research in this area and outlines strategies for overcoming these barriers to gain a comprehensive understanding of substance use.
Ketamine
MDMA
Mephedrone
Release
Transform
Beckleys foundation
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In this episode, Prof Nutt meets with Rose Cartwright as she discusses the impact of psychedelics on her Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). She reflects on some of the common misconceptions around OCD as well as the impact diagnosis and traditional treatment had on her life. Throughout the episode, she reflects on her own psychedelic experiences, mistakes made along the way and the steps she would have taken differently going into this with the knowledge she has today.
Rose Cartwright is a screenwriter whose memoir, Pure, about her life with intrusive sexual thoughts, was adapted for Channel 4. Her revolutionary new memoir, The Maps We Carry, reveals how the failure of the mental health system to cure her OCD led her to radical action. While she explored her trauma through a series of mind-bending psychedelic trips, she began to interrogate our dominant medical paradigm. Her writing about psychedelics, consciousness and mental health has also been published in The Face, Vice and the Guardian. Rose is a writer on the Netflix adaptation of Liu Cixin’s The Three Body Problem.
The Maps We Carry
Rose CartwrightOCD
Bulimia
PTSD
Pure
Intrusive thoughts
Psychodynamic therapy
Person centred therapy
MDMA
Psilocybin
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In this episode, we meet with Satya, a consciousness activist, who has been entirely dedicated to the expansion and evolution of human consciousness for 15 years. Throughout this time, she has facilitated retreats for over 63,000 people around the world, with profound processes of transformation. Satya is the founder of Working With Satya and of the Awareness Facilitator School, that is currently training facilitators with the method she has developed, uniting modern therapies with science, meditation and ancient wisdom.
She discusses the process of her work through a wide range of transformational processes, with a special focus on combining ancient rituals with contemporary therapeutic techniques. Satya shares how her personal healing journey, following sexual abuse, led her to discover the transformative power of Ayahuasca. Inspired by this experience, she became passionate about sharing this sacred medicine and supporting others on their own paths to healing.
Working With Psilocybin - Training Course
AyahuascaPsilocybin
mescaline
Working with Satya
Ayahuasca retreat
Trauma
PTSD in Veterans
Indigenous ethics in psychedelic work
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In this episode, we meet with Prof Susanne MacGregor and Prof Karen Duke to explore the issues surrounding drug use in prisons. They discuss the ways vulnerable inmates can be targeted by gangs, as well as how various aspects of the prison environment can increase the potential harms of psychoactive substances.
The risk matrix: Drug-related deaths in prisons in England and Wales, 2015–2020Responding to ‘wicked problems’: policy and governance on drug-related deaths in English and Welsh prisons, 2015-2020
Producing the ‘problem’ of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in English prisons
‘Keeping a lid on it’: Exploring ‘problematisations’ of prescribed medication in prisons in the UK
'Risk, Intoxication and Death: contemporary media framings of drug-related deaths
ACMD report: ageing cohort of drug users
City roads
PPO
PregabalinCannabis
Synthetic cannabis
Ecstasy
Heroin
HIV
Fentanyl
ADHD
Rory Stewart 10 Prisons Project
Antisocial personality disorder
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In this episode, David Nutt meets with Dr Duncan Still, a GP with significant interest in integrative medicine. He highlights the importance of adopting a holistic approach when providing support for patients and connecting traditional medicine with modern medicine as opposed to discounting it. Duncan explains how this holistic and integrative approach led to him becoming involved in psychedelic retreats and explains the process participants will undergo.
PsyEduUK
Acupuncture
Psilocybin
MDMA
Australia MDMA and psilocybin
Mind medicine Australia
Nature connectedness
James Hawkins
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In this episode we meet with Dr Apo Aporosa
He discusses his unconventional route to his PhD, having not finished school and joined the Army followed by the police only to break into academia at a masters level and continuing studies from there.
Apo talks about his PTSD diagnosis and his subsequent journey with Kava, a spiritual drink consumed in Fijian culture. He discusses the affect this had in treating his PTSD symptoms as well as it facilitating his work overcoming his trauma. In this episode, Apo explains cultural aspects of the Kava experience.
Finally, Apo discusses methods of translating Kava into the medical field without impacting on its traditional and cultural uses. as well as its position of legality within the UK.
Kava Drug information
What is Kava?
Kava Myths and Misunderstandings
PTSD
PTSD in Veterans
Fijian Kava Ceremoney
Become a drug science community member
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In this episode, Kate Hayes reflects on her experiences with the LSD Microdot Gang, drawing upon her interactions and experiences with Dr. Christine Bott and Richard Kemp. She addresses Richard and Christine’s aspiration to bring about positive change in the world using LSD which led to their eventual arrest following involvement in an LSD production and distribution network. At the time, however it was not uncommon for there to be a separation from LSD funders and manufacturers with distributors and dealers. Kate, therefore, further reflects on her own personal experiences with having fallen victim to the drug trade and trafficking at a young age and how this impacted on her experiences going forwards. Kate further reflects on the historical issues in treating mental health conditions and the current limitations of this, drawing further upon Christine and Richards aspirations for LSD.
Buy the books here
Listen to Acid Dream here
The Club of Rome report
Carl Rogers
Carl Rogers 2
LSD
Cannabis
Albert Hoffman
University Occupation for Palestine
March on Washington
Martin Luther king
Death of the Family, David Cooper
PTSD
Gabor Mate
Josef Rael
History of The Club of Rome
Instagram
Facebook
Blog
You Tube Channel
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In this episode we meet with Dr Julie Holland.
She discussed how MDMA influenced her career and inspired her to investigate its therapeutic potential. Controversially, she has investigated the effect of MDMA in schizophrenia and its potential in preventing paranoia and inhibiting auditory hallucinations during its effects.
Dr Holland touches upon debate subjects such as the likelihood of addiction following consumption of MDMA as well as classifications of various substances under regulatory bodies.
Finally, Dr Holland highlights the ‘alpha bias’ in current clinical research as expressed through her book ‘moody bitches’ and indicates the implications this could have.
Moody Bitches Book
Good Chemistry book
Maps
Mdma
Mescaline
PCP
LSD
Cannabis
Fentanyl
Benzodiazapines
Ketamine
Psilocybin
Psilocybin psychotherapy
Schizophrenia
Anxiety
PTSD
Eating Disorders
Rosalind Watts
Norman Ohler
Telehealth Ketamine Study
Become a Drug Science Community Member
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In this episode, we meet with Dr. Suresh Muthukumaraswamy, an Associate Professor of Pharmacy in Auckland. Dr. Muthukumaraswamy discusses his early research, exploring the functional connectivity of substances like DMT and Ketamine. He proceeds to share insights into his breakthrough realisation regarding the disparity between the self-reported success of microdosing outside the lab setting and why it has failed to be replicated in controlled research settings. Finally, he shares his opinions on recent developments of drug policy in Australia and the prospects of New Zealand adopting a similar policy.
Ketamine
DMT
LSD
Fmri
MEG
EEG
PET
5-HT Receptor
Microdosing
Neuroplasticity
Endocrine
Menstural Cycle Hormones
Australia Law on MDMA and Psilocybin
Research
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Professor Mitul Mehta explains how his studies in neuroscience and the role of dopamine in learning and memory led to his own career in neuroimaging. He offers an overview of what neuroimaging entails and how these scans can contribute to the advancement of research.
Drawing from his latest research centred around Schizophrenia, Mitul delves into our understanding of drug interactions within the brain and how these can be used in drug development.
Dopamine
Dopaminergic system
Executive function
Episodic memory
Brain imaging
Lesion Study
Pet scanner
Temporal resolution
Fmri
MRI
Receptors
neurons
Blood Brain Barrier
Ketamine
Cocaine
Psilocybin
Schizophrenia
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In this episode, Prof Neill and Dr Thurgur meet with Dr Gül Dölen, a neuroscientist known for studying social behaviour and psychedelic drugs. Together, they explore the role of critical periods in trauma and mental health; following the potential of Psychedelics in reopening critical periods which were previously thought to be closed, they debate whether a critical period closing is ever truly permanent.
Critical period
Sensitive period
Lorenz 1935
MDMA
cocaine
Oxytocin
Ibogaine
psilocybin
Theory of mind
Albert Hofmann
Schizophrenia
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In this episode, Prof Nutt meets with German author Norman Ohler as he speaks about his new book “Tripped” which addresses drug use in post-Nazi Germany. Ohler shares how a secret history held back therapeutic research of psychedelic drugs for decades and eventually Nazi policies became part of the foundation of America’s War on Drugs. Ohler discusses theories as to why substances have been omitted from certain parts of history. This episode delves into deep debates regarding the weaponisation of substances within war environments, touching upon the CIA’s attempts to weaponise psychedelics such as LSD in their MK Ultra experiments.
MethamphetamineAmphetamine
Blitzkrieg
Blitzed – drugs in nazi Germany book
LSD
Tripped
Cocaine
Albert Hofmann
Psychedelics David Nutt
Become a drug science community member
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On the 100th Episode of the Drug Science podcast, Prof David Nutt meets with Dr James Rucker to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Maudsley Hospital. James shares his experiences as one of the first clinicians in a psychedelic study hosted by David Nutt before explaining his own personal journey into psychedelic research.
Starting from a PhD in Genetics, James’ interest shifted, becoming increasingly interested in psychiatry and discusses his research into psilocybin regarding both its optimum dosage as well as its effectiveness in treatment resistant depression.
Depression
Maudsley Hospital
Maudsley Hospital Psychedelic Research
NIHR
Compass pathways
Psilocybin
Magic medicine documentary
Mdma
Dmt
Ketamine
MAPS
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In this episode, we meet with Jane Slater, co-founder of Anyone’s Child and Anne Marie, a mother who tragically lost her child, Martha, to an accidental overdose. Anne and Jane discuss the consequences of drug policy failures and the need for safe drug use education, drawing in on Anne’s personal journey. She discusses the pain of losing a loved one to a preventable drug related death and how this pain led to the start of Anyone's Child - creating a voice for those who have been directly impacted by drug policy failures and are now calling for the legal control and regulation of the drug market.Anyone's child
Transform drugs
Anyone's Child Get involved
Release Harm Reduction Advice
Drug information
EcstasyHeroin
Overdose prevention centresThe loop
How to regulate psychedelics book
Good Morning BritainDealing with grief
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In this week's episode, we feature John Marks, an Addiction Psychologist who spearheaded the Merseyside experiment in northwest England from 1982 to 1995. Throughout this 13-year period, Marks fearlessly operated clinics in Liverpool, basing his practice on the long-term maintenance prescribing of opiates to opiate users.
The high media profile of his work, set against the backdrop of febrile local politics in Liverpool, brought immense political pressure. This pressure eventually led to the closure of the clinics.
Tune in to this episode as John Marks shares his first-hand experiences, recounting the challenges, triumphs, and controversies surrounding his work on the experiment. He provides insights into the intricacies of the UK's drug laws and discusses their impact on his experiment.Alcohol
heroin
Misuse of drugs act 1971
The ‘Classic paper’ – The North Wind and the Sun
Accidy, Addiction and the Prohibition
Electroencephalographic Correlates of Psychometry
EEG and Psychometry
The Cartesian Bridge: On the Psychology of Consciousness and the Psychopathology of Addiction and Schizophrenia
North wind and the sun
County lines
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In this episode, we meet with Patrick Cox, a fashion designer with a background collaborating with Vivienne Westwood. Patrick shares his personal journey from his lifestyle in fashion, led to confronting deep-seated intergenerational trauma. Patrick opens up about undertaking the highly secretive Hoffman Process, and the transformative impact this had on him. From there, he further recounts his journey through the healing use of psychedelics, emphasising the transformative power of ego death. Patrick highlights how this journey led to him becoming a 5-MeO facilitator, and guiding others through these healing experiences.
5-MEO
Vivienne Westwood
The Hoffman process
Christopher Hitchens
LSD
Cannabis
Ayahuasca
Ego Death
Hermet phase
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In this episode, David Nutt meets with Evgeny Lebedev, owner of the Independent and Evening Standard newspaper. Lebedev shares his transformative journey during his first Ayahuasca ceremony in Costa Rica. Throughout the episode, Lebedev not only shares insight into the ceremony's practices but also describes each personal ayahuasca experience and the themes that tied them together. He highlights his revelations resulting from the ceremony and they discuss the potential of psychedelics within healing practices.
Ayahuasca
Psilocybin
LSD
DMT
Small Pharma
Medical Cannabis
Vietnam hippies
OCD
Depression
Dr Gabor Mate
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