In June 2019, the Labour Campaign for Drug Policy Reform held its very successful public meeting in Bristol. Since then, the whole world has had to come to terms with a pandemic that has taken over all aspects of daily life, government and our health services.

However the campaign for drug reform has not diminished. The Covid-19 outbreak has drawn into sharp focus how vulnerable drug users need care and support rather than punishment. In Bristol, all street homeless people were offered accommodation during the March 2020 lockdown. Bristol City Council have investigated Overdose Prevention Centres for the city. Groups like the Loop and Bristol Drugs Project continue to offer harm reduction advice and assistance to drug users and campaigns like Students for Sensible Drug Policy keep up the calls for reform to protect young people.

In September 2020, the LCDPR Expert Working Group released its recommendations for what Labour Party drug policy should look like. These recommendations can be found below.

https://labour-drug-policy.squarespace.com/recommendations

However this isn’t the end of the conversation. In the upcoming LCDPR meeting Drugs in Bristol: Students, Covid and the Future of Harm Reduction, we will hear from key groups in our City about their perspective of Bristol’s drug use, the changes in drug markets and habits during the pandemic and how they envisage harm reduction as we return to a post-Covid world.

Chair:

• John Hirst, LCDPR South-West Ambassador

Speakers:

• Mike Trace, LCDPR Chair

• Cllr Asher Craig – Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Communities, Equalities & Public Health

• Cara Lavan - Activist, Anyone's Child Campaign Group

• Ed Polley – Students for Sensible Drug Policy at University of Bristol

• Sorcha Ryan – Festival & Nightclub Harm Reduction Lead and Engagement Worker - Bristol Drugs Project

• Kira Weir - The Loop