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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · 2d

Join us this 19 October!

The Problem Is The Law: A Movement of Movements for Decriminalisation

A one-day event bringing together those working to decriminalise sex work, drugs, mental health, migration, abortion and trans life.

Tickets and more info 👇
www.eventbrite.com/e/the-proble...

The Problem Is The Law: A Movement of Movements for Decriminalisation

A one-day event bringing together those working to decriminalise sex work, drugs, mental health, migration, abortion and trans life

www.eventbrite.com

Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · 22d

We were aware that there were yearly delays in death reporting due to backlogs in coroner offices. But without info on what substances were present at death, it's very difficult to confirm from the outside

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · 22d

www.bbc.com/news/article...

An estimated 13,000 opioid-related deaths have been left out of official drug deaths from 2013-2022 - 50% higher than previously known.

This means what was already dire numbers were actually worse than expected. But would things have been different with this info?

Thousands of opioid deaths missed off official figures

The error - affecting England and Wales - raises concerns about the impact on the government's approach to drug deaths.

www.bbc.com

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Sep 2

www.politico.eu/article/euro...

"Staff are saving lives every day while offering dignity and respect to people" - @niamhrelease.bsky.social

Thanks @politico.com for such important coverage + including us. The drug death crisis in Scotland needs all tools on hand to save lives.

Amid Europe’s worst drug crisis, Glasgow is changing course

Health officials say the U.K’s first supervised drug clinic is saving lives. They’re still fighting to convince locals.

www.politico.eu

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Jul 24

www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/op...

Young people and general party-goers aren't aware of the risks of using drugs from an unregulated market.

Without market controls, we need access to tools to keep us safe:

👉 Drug checking
👉 Awareness campaigns
👉 OD Prevention Sites
👉 Harm reduction EVERYWHERE

Is London on the brink of an opioid crisis? What the capital's clubbers need to know

Synthetic opioids called nitazenes, which are up to 500 times stronger than heroin, are appearing in the capital in the form of pills, powders and vapes

www.standard.co.uk

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Jul 18

Police forces are often the first people on the scene and can keep someone alive.

While we'd support more community centred options without police presence, they should at the very least carry life-saving medicine.

www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

Revealed: Why Manchester police refuses to give life-saving overdose drug to officers

Greater Manchester Police's on naloxone response "disappointing" and reasoning "raises serious questions", says MP Tom Morrison.

www.bigissue.com

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Jul 7

Such an in-depth piece acknowledging local POVs + the tricky reality of addressing risky drug use in the context of deprivation, inequality and lack of care.

The Thistle is not a silver bullet - it's a needed intervention in a wider context of support.

www.heraldscotland.com/news/2528514...

The truth about The Thistle - Scotland's first drugs consumption room

All eyes have been on Calton in Glasgow's East End since the UK’s first Safer Drug Consumption Facility began in January, allowing people to…

www.heraldscotland.com

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Jul 5

COME WORK WITH US
📢Legal Adviser
📅Closes: NEXT WEEK - 9:00 pm, Sunday 13 July 2025

More details on the job posting below 👇
www.release.org.uk/vacancy-lega...

Vacancy - Legal Adviser

Please note: The minimum requirements for this post is completion of LLB, GDL, or SQE1 and minimum six months’ experience in social welfare legal advice and casework in areas such as crime, housing,…

www.release.org.uk

Reposted by Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights

International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) @idpc.net · Jun 26

⚠️ The 2025 World Drug Report is out! #WDR2025

Drug markets are expanding. Harms are rising. Police-led approaches are failing.

UNODC won't say it plainly, so we did:

Evidence that cannot be contained: The World Drug Report 2025 reveals the ongoing failure of the drug control regime

Behind cautious language, the data expose a system that criminalises, harms, and undermines health.

idpc.net

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Jun 25

I'm sorry you went through that experience

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Jun 17

COME WORK WITH US
📢Legal Adviser
📅Closes: 9:00 pm, Sunday 13 July 2025

More details on the job posting below 👇

www.release.org.uk/vacancy-lega...

Please share with your networks 🫂
#legaljobs

Vacancy - Legal Adviser

Please note: The minimum requirements for this post is completion of LLB, GDL, or SQE1 and minimum six months’ experience in social welfare legal advice and casework in areas such as crime, housing, b...

www.release.org.uk

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Reposted by Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights

Zoë Garbett @zoegarbett.bsky.social · Jun 11

This is long overdue - the Vagrancy Act continues to be used to criminalise 100s of homeless people 200 years after it was brought in!

I've been drawing attention to this cruel approach and calling for a focus on root causes - investing in housing & health services.

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Rough sleeping to be decriminalised after 200 years

The Government has confirmed it will repeal the outdated Vagrancy Act 1824 by Spring next year, to ensure rough sleeping is no longer a criminal offence.

www.gov.uk

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Jun 11

www.bbc.com/news/article...

People are supposedly using "medicinal grade" cannabis recreationally - but it's unclear whether it's being used for medical purposes, or they're just talking about high-quality/high-THC cannabis.

A bizarre story with just one line on the tiny data-sets the study used.

Report finds Guernsey medicinal cannabis is used recreationally

Concerns raised by health professionals about the recreational use of medicinal cannabis.

www.bbc.com

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Jun 10

The Common Ground Justice Project has a curious report on how UK publics are not excited about more prisons, but struggle to think of alternatives to incarceration. Abolition can crack through these attitudes with a new vision for supporting people.

Course Correction

New public opinion research from More in Common and the Common Ground Justice Project finds Britons think the justice system is broken, with widespread demands for radical change. The research uncovers deep...

www.moreincommon.org.uk

Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Jun 9

Already deny the results of an ongoing pilot, EVEN if it may prove to reduce drug harms, health outcomes and improve the situation for those using its services.

This ideological opposition to tested interventions is just wasting time, money and lives - all to seem tough in a failed drug war.

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Jun 9

While the headline is more sensationalist than what was said, Diana Johnson does make it clear that the Gov does "not support drug consumption facilities, it’s not our policy and we will not be amending the Misuse of Drugs Act.”

It seems disingenuous to...

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Labour refuses to back controlled drug use rooms despite ongoing pilot

Ministers were accused of ‘condemning thousands of people to death’ over their stance

www.independent.co.uk

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Jun 7

Simon Jenkins hit it on the head.

"The reality is that the divide in Britain is not between those “in favour” of cannabis and those against. It is between those who care about the impact of criminalisation and those who don’t"

Cannabis change is needed NOW

Sadiq Khan is right: Britain must decriminalise cannabis – or remain in the dark ages | Simon Jenkins

Criminalising drugs ruins lives and wastes police resources. Many other countries have realised this – so when will UK politicians, asks Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins

www.theguardian.com

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · May 30

100%, buried deep in the story and so are the comments highlighting that reports don't show an increase in public injecting litter.

But this needs to be properly addressed and not continuously denied, otherwise the pressure will continue to escalate

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · May 30

The campaign to close The Thistle is gaining a lot of media traction, fitting neatly in the war against any support for PWUD.

There's a lot of valid concerns around public cleanliness and taking in local concerns - but the result should not be more drug use stigma.
news.sky.com/story/living...

Living beside the UK's first drug consumption room

Sky News witnessed a makeshift drug den with hundreds of freshly used needles - it was like a minefield. One needle was stabbed into a large tree and there was even a wooden seat covered in drug-takin...

news.sky.com

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · May 29

The London Drugs Commission finally recommends cannabis decrim, but urges caution when pushing for legalisation.

While it's a great recommendation after many rounds of evidence, the Gov has already shot down this recommendation.

www.london.gov.uk/programmes-s...

Just a moment...

Verifying you are human. This may take a few seconds.

www.london.gov.uk

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · May 20

Compassionate approaches quickly shifted to more punishment in Oregon, as treatment funds were used to fund the wages of more prosecutors and acquiring police gadgets and vehicles.

There's limited funding for treatment and harm reduction, but for police..!

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Revealed: Oregon spent funds meant for addiction services on prosecutors and police gadgets

As the state abandons decriminalization, treatment grants are going to sheriffs and district attorneys: ‘that might be two or three case managers’

www.theguardian.com

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Apr 28

How much more signalling does the Gov need to see that BOLD and INNOVATIVE actions in health are popular?

77% say they want a healthier life. We need drug policies that support healthier outcomes - meaning no jail time for drug use + harm reduction funding.

www.the-independent.com/news/uk/home...

Tough policies to transform health not viewed as ‘nanny-statism’, poll finds

A survey of 2,010 UK adults found the NHS was among the top concerns for the public.

www.the-independent.com

Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Apr 15

Public health specialists know the value of DCRs: these interventions are a needed tool in the box of tactics for keeping people safe when using drugs.

There's local + expert support for a room - make it happen.

Interesting piece to help shift the pub narrative!

www.itv.com/news/utv/202...

Would a drug consumption room in Belfast help tackle addiction? | ITV News

As calls for a drug consumption room in Belfast escalate, UTV takes a look at how Dublin is tackling the addiction crisis. | UTV News

www.itv.com

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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Apr 14

Beyond its obvious technological limitations and false positives, drug testing (not checking) is a carceral tactic that keeps punishing people through forced abstinence and denying people their freedom.

Despicable results in this investigation 👇

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Revealed: drug tests in California prisons yielded false positives, affecting thousands of people

Records suggest Quest Diagnostics erroneously detected opiates. Lawyers say parole requests were jeopardized in the process

www.theguardian.com

Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · Apr 1

The BBCs latest write-up on #TheThistle DCR in Glasgow is interesting and quite complete.

While starting off with much alarmism and focus on medical emergencies, it's got some great quotes from those using the DCR and Dr Priyardarshi who really hits it on the head 👇

www.bbc.com/news/article...

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