Mat Southwell – How drug policy and practice could be transformed today

Mat Southwell’s talk from the ‘After the war on drugs: envisioning a post prohibition future’ event.  Mat is the Project Manager for the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD).   They promote the health and defend the rights of people who use drugs.

Mat has worked in NHS drug services and is a consultant specialising in new drug trends and innovative practice responses.  In 1999 he ‘came out’ as a drug user and has been involved in supporting that community to deal with the consequences of bad drug policy and practice.  He discusses that experience in this talk and also advocates effective, science based models of drug treatment and harm reduction.