Drug Policy: the need to be objective and open

Dr. David Bewley-Taylor, an expert in international drug policy, works closely with WIRED. Dave is a senior lecturer in the School of Humanities at the University of Wales Swansea, acts as a consultant for international drug policy organizations in the UK and overseas and is a member of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP).

Dave will be helping us develop a WIRED programme of awareness raising and education about drug policy, for people working with substance users and for members of the general public.

WIRED was commissioned by The Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme (BFDPP) to develop, and initially maintain and promote, a community web site (www.internationaldrugpolicy.net). The web site was developed by Ash Whitney of Wired Up Wales, and Dave Bewley-Taylor authors and co-authors policy reports for this non-governmental initiative.

The BFDPP aims to promote objective debate on the effectiveness, direction and content of drug policies at national and international level. It brings together senior policymakers, leading academics and practitioners to assess the latest evidence of drug policy effectiveness in a spirit of objectivity and open debate.

You might find some of David Clark's Background Briefings for Drink and Drugs News to be of interest:

The regulation and control of drugs: Part 1
Looks at factors that have influenced the development of laws regulating recreational drug use, in particularinfluential happenings in America.

The regulation and control of drugs: Part 2
Continues to look at the development of laws regulating recreational drug use, in particular in America which has influenced world drug policy so strongly.

Should recreational drug use be criminalised? Part 1
Continues a journey into the regulation and control of drugs by looking at philosopher Douglas Husak's views on the justice of US drug laws.

Should recreational drug use be criminalised? Part 2
Douglas Husak's arguments on effects of prohibition.