TalkingDrugs | Drug Information, Issues, Stories & News

“Everybody Working Together”: Five Years of National Drug Checking in New Zealand

For the past several years, while most countries around the world continued to ramp up the war on drugs and push criminalisation, Aotearoa New Zealand has been quietly positioning itself…

André Gomes

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May 22, 2026

South African men participate in a protest for HIV awareness.

Drug Harm Reduction Drugs & Development

‘It’s a Calamity’: How Trump’s Aid Cuts Collapsed South Africa’s HIV Services

At the beginning of 2025, bright white trucks would rumble into communities across South Africa on a set day each week. The trucks had fridges, medication, and staff who knew…

Ryan Hesketh

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May 18, 2026

Drug Trafficking Other Drugs

Social Media Drug Groups Are Changing the Dealing Game

“I will meet u at the station with the stuff when u arrive. No worries mate. I’ll be on tuk-tuk ;)” Stepping out of the station and straight into the…

David Hillier

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May 15, 2026

Latest Stories

Canisters of nitrous oxide discarded on the ground.

Drug Policy Other Drugs

Bigger Canisters, Bigger Harms: How the UK’s Nitrous Oxide Ban Backfired

Ella Glover

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May 19, 2026

Walking the streets of London on a Saturday or Sunday morning, it would almost be impossible to miss the discarded…

Drugs & Gender

It’s Not the Drugs: Sexual Violence under Prohibition and Patriarchy

Silvie Ojeda

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May 11, 2026

There are forms of violence that are spoken of openly, and there are others that slip through like shadows. There…

Cannabis Drug Policy Drugs & Development

Cash Crop: The Extractive Cannabis Industries Of the Global South

André Gomes

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May 7, 2026

For the past couple of years, many Global South nations have sought to capitalise on the global cannabis boom, reforming…

A poster on the street stating: "gear has changed: Drug deaths are at a record high".

Drug Harm Reduction Opioids

Public Health Campaign Raises Awareness of Drug Supply Contamination

André Gomes

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May 5, 2026

Ethypharm has recently launched the “Gear has changed” public health campaign in April, calling for greater awareness around accidental overdoses…

Language matters.

The words we use to describe drugs and the people that take them has a real and deep impact. From stigmatising labels, to being accused of murdering someone,

This month, we’re bringing together our stories that focus on on how language can shape our lives and futures.

View All Posts

Drugs & Gender

It’s Not the Drugs: Sexual Violence under Prohibition and Patriarchy

Silvie Ojeda

.

May 11, 2026

There are forms of violence that are spoken of openly, and there are others that slip through like shadows. There…

An ambulance clinic in Yerevan, Armenia.

Drug Harm Reduction Opioids

“Don’t Let Anyone Know”: OST Stigma in Armenia’s Post-Soviet Healthcare System

Anna Asatryan

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Apr 8, 2026

As an addiction medicine specialist in Armenia, I often meet patients that, lowering their voices, tell me: “Doctor, please don’t…

Drug Harm Reduction

Georgia’s Soviet-Era Healthcare System is Putting Doctors in Prison

Giorgi Minasovi

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Mar 6, 2026

Should a psychiatrist face prison for obeying the law? This was the question raised by the case of an anonymous…

Drug Harm Reduction

The Aesthetics of Drug Prohibition and Harm Reduction

Lara Talone

.

Feb 16, 2026

The Opioid Crisis Lookbook, (OCL) is the provocative title of a magazine started in 2022. Even without reading the magazine…

All the world's flags lined up in front of the UN building.

Drug Policy

How International Drug Policy Is Increasingly Fragmented

Alex Stevens

.

Feb 12, 2026

For many years, international drug policy seemed stuck in tired rhetoric about a ‘drug-free world’. International discussions repeatedly called for…

Resources

Drug Policy

The Decriminalisation Playbook: New UNAIDS Report Lays Out Pathway for HIV Response

André Gomes

.

Mar 16, 2026

For decades, the global “war on drugs” has been sold as what’s best for public health: by harshly criminalising drug…

Drug Harm Reduction Opioids

Orphines: A Rising Group of Synthetic Opioids

Emily Andrews

.

Jan 27, 2026

For the past decade, the world has seen an unprecedented explosion in synthetic drug production and distribution, particularly of synthetic…

White pills in the middle of roasted coffee beans.

Drug Harm Reduction Stimulants

Could Stimulant Replacement Therapy Reduce Cocaine and Stimulant Harms?

Tom Fresen

.

Nov 18, 2025

Stimulant deaths around the world are on the rise. In the UK, the number of deaths involving cocaine is 11…

Drug Policy Drugs & Development

UNDP Report Calls for Drug Market Reforms to Achieve Global Development Goals

André Gomes

.

Sep 19, 2025

The latest report published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is challenging governments to rethink their approach to drug…

Drug Harm Reduction Other Drugs

Alpha-PVP: What Is It, and Key Harm Reduction Tips

Noor Vissram

.

Oct 23, 2024

Alpha-PyrrolidinoValeroPhenone (also known as alpha-PVP) is a relatively recent New Psychoactive Substance (NPS) in global circulation. While previously prominent in…

Drugs & Gender Psychedelics

We Need More Research into Ketamine Use By Women and Gender-Diverse People

Isabelle Gius

.

Oct 21, 2024

On 20 June, in honour of World Psychedelics Day, the Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN) and TalkingDrugs published…

“Everybody Working Together”: Five Years of National Drug Checking in New Zealand

‘It’s a Calamity’: How Trump’s Aid Cuts Collapsed South Africa’s HIV Services

Social Media Drug Groups Are Changing the Dealing Game

Latest Stories

Bigger Canisters, Bigger Harms: How the UK’s Nitrous Oxide Ban Backfired

It’s Not the Drugs: Sexual Violence under Prohibition and Patriarchy

Cash Crop: The Extractive Cannabis Industries Of the Global South

Public Health Campaign Raises Awareness of Drug Supply Contamination

Most Popular

Is Ibiza the Disneyland of Drugs?

Global Drug Decriminalisation Map: 29 countries. 49 models of drug decriminalisation

Does Grapefruit Juice Make MDMA Stronger?

Language Matters: Is My Country a “Narco-state”?

Report: Global Drug Trafficking Market Worth Half a Trillion Dollars

Health Risks Associated with Mephedrone Use: What We Know So Far

Futuro Coca: Imagining a New Future for Coca in Colombia

Tali-Ban: How Europe’s Heroin Markets Will Survive Afghanistan’s Opium

Language matters.

It’s Not the Drugs: Sexual Violence under Prohibition and Patriarchy

“Don’t Let Anyone Know”: OST Stigma in Armenia’s Post-Soviet Healthcare System

Georgia’s Soviet-Era Healthcare System is Putting Doctors in Prison

The Aesthetics of Drug Prohibition and Harm Reduction

How International Drug Policy Is Increasingly Fragmented

Resources

The Decriminalisation Playbook: New UNAIDS Report Lays Out Pathway for HIV Response

Orphines: A Rising Group of Synthetic Opioids

Could Stimulant Replacement Therapy Reduce Cocaine and Stimulant Harms?

UNDP Report Calls for Drug Market Reforms to Achieve Global Development Goals

Alpha-PVP: What Is It, and Key Harm Reduction Tips

We Need More Research into Ketamine Use By Women and Gender-Diverse People