Say Why To Drugs

Say Why To Drugs follows a simple discipline: say what the evidence shows about a drug, and say where it runs out. Dr Suzi Gage leads the conversations. Her guests include researchers, a bereaved mother and a drug policy organisation, and the talk stays close to questions people actually face. Take spiking. In the episode with Dr Lata Gautam of Anglia Ruskin University, the framing is candid: it is unclear whether spiking is on the rise, and there is little concrete evidence yet of spiking by injection, even though people are reporting it. The conversation covers forensic cases of drug-facilitated sexual assault, in which alcohol, sedatives, benzodiazepines, stimulants, antihistamines and antidepressants have all been detected. The notes for that episode link to websites on spiking and drug-facilitated sexual assault. Family is another thread. Fiona Spargo-Mabbs, a returning guest whose son Dan died after taking MDMA, joined Gage live at Latitude Festival to talk about discussing drugs at home. One hard question comes up directly: whether parents who have used illicit drugs should tell their children, and at what age. The answer, fittingly, is that it depends, starting with how old the child is. Alcohol comes up again and again. In 'Alcohol in pregnancy', Gage speaks with Kate and Louisa about how risk climbs with the amount drunk, and sets that against the long list of foods pregnant women are told to avoid. 'Maternal Drinking' turns to women who feel treated as other people's property once pregnant, and to why their drinking may be under-reported and under-researched. Policy gets its turn with James Nichols of Transform, an organisation that has published a report on how stimulants could be regulated. That discussion covers taxation by strength, minimum unit pricing, and cannabis regulation in US states and Canada. 'Drugs and Sex - recorded live at Vault Festival' features a researcher whose work looks past what is usually called chemsex, aiming to hear from women and gender minorities through ethnographic work in clubs and parties. The show is open about its own rhythm. One intro apologises for a long radio silence, another is spoken softly over a sleeping baby, and one sign-off calls a batch of episodes a flurry rather than a season. Rapper Scroobius Pip was Gage's conversation partner for the first series. For something immediately practical, the spiking episode or the Latitude conversation on family is a good first listen.