New Psychoactive Substances and Human Enhancement Drugs: new policy and practitioner landscapes

Rising levels of NPS/HED have been observed around the globe as new technologies for their advertisement and dissemination have developed. The Coalition Government in the UK, and international bodies and institutions around the world, have called for a focus on developing policies that limit their harm and implementing strategies that help to appraise users of their potential risks: they have widely been described as the new challenge facing both policymakers and practitioners. Despite the prioritisation of this issue, a coherent and extensive social research agenda in this area that seeks to evaluate policies and their consequences, critically assess official discourses and explore the needs and experiences of users does not yet exist. Without this evidence base it is impossible for policymakers to make informed decisions or practitioners to implement standards of best practice. It is the intention of this seminar series to bring academics from many social research related disciplines and working at many different levels together with practitioners and policymakers to develop and shape, in partnership, a social research agenda on NPS and HED that will, in turn, be used to inform both policy and practice.

This partnership will be effected by bringing together a strong UK based network of NPS/HED related social researchers and social research users and by creating a forum within which they can engage in dialogue, exchange ideas and perspectives, develop their conceptualisations of the challenges posed by NPS/HED, jointly shape policy and research agendas, and drive forward new research collaborations and strategies. To ensure the diversity of the network and the breadth of its reach, academics from a variety of social research disciplines (criminology, sociology, substance use/abuse epidemiology, child care, health sciences, criminal justice and public policy) and at different stages of their career will be included; similarly, policymakers and practitioners from a variety of backgrounds (governmental/non-governmental; law enforcement/treatment), as well as media representatives and users themselves, will participate in the overall network. While NPS/HED is a problem that is significant in its effect in the UK in particular, it is an issue that is being experienced around the globe and thus, where appropriate, international scholars and policymakers have been asked to contribute to the debates and join the 'core pool' of participants so that their experiences can also be acknowledged.

The seminar series will take the format of 6 half day seminars related to social research on NPS/HED: new policy directions; supply and demand; psychopharmacology; law enforcement; risk; and treatment, community developments and harm reduction. It will be attended by 40 participants drawn from the 'core pool' of participants, other interested local parties and those specifically invited by the host institution. It will be accompanied by a suite of online resources including a dedicated blog and discussion forum that will widen participation to those members of the 'core pool' unable to attend seminars in person, those working in related disciplines that are not members of the 'core pool' and those from the international arena. Our work will be consolidated by our final 3 day event which aims to maximise the impact of existing research outcomes and inspire new research collaborations.

The rising use of NPS (and HED) is an issue that has received much media attention and thus much public interest, which has helped to drive forward an agenda for existing organisations, institutions and individuals interested in illegal drugs to extend their focus to NPS and sometimes HED. The co-applicants, as well as key members of the core pool, have exploited their extensive existing contacts to gain access to those charged with responding to these new challenges. To date, representatives from the national and international academic community, international drug related organisations, governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations, law enforcement agencies, treatment agencies, drug education agencies, journalism and NPS/HED users themselves have agreed to be part of the 'core pool' of interested parties, to help with the design of individual events, to follow the proceedings of the seminars and to contribute to the seminars where appropriate. As NPS/HED is such a rapidly developing field, it is the intention to continue to add to this list of affiliated users of research over the duration of the ESRC grant as the influence of the existing network grows via its online presence, thus ensuring that increasing audiences are reached.

Despite growing concern about NPS/HED and the new focus upon them by policymakers and practitioners, there remains very little relevant social research to draw upon. It is not currently easy for those listed above to access up-to-date evaluations of policy practices, discussions about 'what works' in this field, forums for the exchange of best practice, accounts of user experiences or debates about the intended and unintended consequences of policy interventions. Our seminar series will provide that forum by allowing practitioners and policy makers to have access (either by attendance at seminars or through our accompanying online resources, briefing papers, discussion forums, academic and news media publications/broadcasts) to up-to-date academic thinking and cutting edge research in this area that can be used to inform their decision making in the future. It will also allow them to benefit extensively from the network building aspect of the seminar series in the sense that they will have an opportunity to meet others working in the field and exchange ideas and experiences with them leading to the identification of incidences of best practice. Finally, those who have the most contact with the end users of NPS/HED will be facilitated in shaping both research agendas and policy processes.

The seminar series and 'core pool' of participants have been designed in order to ensure that research users form a key part of the venture from the design stage onwards and occupy prominent roles within it, allowing a balanced dialogue to emerge between academics, policy makers and practitioners. Each individual seminar includes key contributions from research users as speakers and/or discussion leaders, and they are also well represented within the 'core pool'. Furthermore, the organisers of each seminar have committed to inviting local practitioners and (where appropriate) policy makers to the individual seminars and to guaranteeing that each seminar is populated by a balance of academics, policy makers and practitioners. This will further ensure that policy makers and practitioners will hold an important stake in the development of a dialogue around NPS/HED: just as they may be influenced and impacted by the exposure to academic debates around and theoretical conceptualisations of NPS/HED, so they will in turn help to shape and develop academic thinking in these areas.

The potential impact of the seminar proceedings and outputs will be maximised by the timely publication of our ongoing findings via our blog, which will be made freely available to all interested parties, and by seeking to exploit existing links with media outlets such as the Guardian and BBC Radio 4.