Media enquiries
Release staff regularly provide comment to the media on a range of drugs issues. Particular areas of expertise include, but are not limited to:
- UK drug policy
- Drug laws in the UK
- Drug prevalence rates
- Changing patterns in drug use
- Policy proposals that impact on people who use drugs, for example, benefit reforms or anti-social behaviour legislation
- Supply side issues including trafficking of drugs and cultivation of cannabis
- Drug treatment and harm reduction
For media enquiries, please contact niamh@release.org.uk
Press Releases
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2025: Drug-related deaths increase as government response falls dangerously short
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Drug-related deaths increase for fourteenth year in a row as government response falls dangerously short London, 17 October 2025: New figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that drug-related deaths have risen for the fourteenth consecutive year, reaching the highest level since records began. Deaths increased by 2.1% over…
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2024: Shocking increase in drug death figures released
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Shocking increase in drug death figures released today mean we are in a public health emergency, with the highest figures on record reported the new Government must act now to save lives. LONDON – Drug related deaths are at an all-time high, with one of the highest recorded increases in year-on-year figures reported…
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Open letter to Home Office from 500 public health and criminal justice experts calling for a rethink of Drug Possession Proposals
Release has been very clear about its position towards the Government’s latest White Paper “Swift, Certain, Tough: New Consequences for Drug Possession”, setting out its harsh approach to so-called “recreational drug users” which we condemned in our consultation response. Together with Transform Drug Policy Foundation, we have organised an open letter signed by more than…
