Andrew has worked for the last 12 years as a public health practitioner supporting a range of alcohol, smoking, obesity, ageing and other programmes. More recently he has helped develop adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) informed policy and practice in North Wales and Ireland and produced the ACEs animation. Andrew is currently supporting the National ACE Approach to Policing Vulnerability Programme in Wales.
Julian Buchanan is a qualified social worker, drug worker and academic from Anfield, Liverpool, UK. He has worked in the drug field since the mid 1980s when he helped pioneer a risk reduction drug policy for the Merseyside Probation Service and with the support of Dr John Marks he established the South Sefton Drug Team that provided a comprehensive range of harm reduction services.
Niamh is Executive Director of Release – the UK’s centre of expertise on drugs and drug laws. Niamh has co-authored Release’s two most recent policy papers ‘The Numbers in Black And White: Ethnic Disparities In The Policing And Prosecution Of Drug Offences In England And Wales’ and ‘A Quiet Revolution: Drug Decriminalisation Policies Across the Globe’.
Fiona Gilbertson Has over 25 years of advocacy experience in HIV and sex work, mainly in policy development and lobbying. She believes that the fundamental way to tackle stigma and discrimination is through policy change, people need rights not concessions.
Josh Haddow is a filmmaker and journalist from the UK. He has made and worked on documentaries about drug use, mental health, public services, crime and human exploitation for the BBC, Vice, Channel 5 and others.
Steff Kerr has held various posts within Homelessness and Addiction services over the past fifteen years. He is currently employed by the NHS as a Recovery Coordinator in Glasgow’s North East Alcohol Drug and Recovery Service and has held this position for the past five years.
Neil is the author of the bestselling Good Cop, Bad War. This memoir, written in ‘true crime’ style describes undercover drugs policing in often brutal detail.
Leon is outreach worker, researcher and trainer at Mainline Foundation since 2006. He has done research into drug use among Amsterdam gay and bisexual men ever since 2010.
Jay began working at the International Network Of People who Use Drugs (INPUD) Secretariat in 2014 as INPUD’s Policy and Advocacy Officer, and has written advocacy publications for INPUD since 2013.
Sjef is chemsex veteran and used crystal meth for three years and quit with chemsex in 2015. He decided to use his own experience within the worldwide chemsex scene, as a source to talk openly without prejudice about drugs and sex.
Imani Robinson is a writer, researcher and racial justice organiser. In November 2018 she co-produced RE:GENERATE, a black centred UK arts festival on the intersections of drug policy, racial justice and liberation, in collaboration with Release.
Alissa Sadler is a communications officer at the Open Society Foundations. Based in London, she works to promote the work of the Public Health Program and grantees to a variety of audiences across the globe through strategic communications campaigns, publications, digital projects, and media outreach.
Dr Gillian Shorter is a Lecturer in Psychology at Ulster University. A committed harm reductionist, Dr Shorter has 15 years of experience working as a researcher in the addiction field. Her research focuses on change in alcohol and drug use: specifically what change is measured and what it means for different people, and how this influences decision making (especially for policy makers or those with lived experience).
Jason is a Senior Development Officer who leads and manages the Volunteer/Engagement and Peer Research Programme at Scottish Drugs Forum. Previously he was the National Naloxone Training and Support Officer based at Scottish Drugs Forum, whose remit involved leading on the National Naloxone Peer Education Initiative
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We are excited to announce that Haven Wheelock will be a HIT Hot Topics speaker. Haven was a Chief Petitioner for ballot measure 110, which was a first in the USA initiative to decriminalise drugs in the state of Oregon. 2022.hit.org.uk/haven-wheelock/
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