Spice and Other Street Drugs – A Manchester-led Solution to a UK problem

Sutcliffe, Oliver B and Costello, Andrew (2021) Spice and Other Street Drugs – A Manchester-led Solution to a UK problem. In: University of Cardiff - Pharmacy Research Seminar Series, 16 June 2021 - 16 June 2021, Online.

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Abstract

In recent years, the synthetic cannabinoid ‘Spice’ has received a lot of attention as a particularly prominent street drug used within Manchester’s homeless communities. But beyond the horrifying photos capturing vulnerable members of our society collapsed on the street and the dehumanising headlines labelling users as ‘zombies’, very little of the media is actually informing us about the work that is tackling this UK-wide issue. Dr Oliver Sutcliffe and PC Andy Costello will discuss this issue; explain their novel strategy for reducing the harm caused by street drugs, and the current work of the MANchester DRug Analysis and Knowledge Exchange (MANDRAKE) partnership. This talk will highlight how this unique partnership between Greater Manchester Police and Manchester Metropolitan University – has pioneered rapid, robust and cost-effective chemical analysis and technologies to deliver harm-reduction/intelligence sharing within the Greater Manchester Region to safeguard some of the most vulnerable members of our community.