MJA members are invited to attend a breakfast conversation on Thursday 3rd April, 8:30am – 9:30am in London. Hosted by The Forward Trust and Taking Action on Addiction, a panel of experts and media will be brought together to address the growing crisis of addiction in the UK.
The addiction crisis is impacting individuals, families, crime rates, and communities across the country:
- Last year saw over 15,000 deaths from drugs and alcohol alone.
- In 2023, deaths from drugs misuse in England and Wales was 11% higher than it was the year previously – and alcohol related deaths registered in the UK was the highest number on record. Deaths caused solely by alcohol have increased by a catastrophic 42% since 2019.
- Alcohol addiction and dependency has risen and has remained high since the pandemic.
- Research commissioned by the Forward Trust for Addiction Awareness Week in December 2024 revealed the scale of the problem with 1 in 10 UK adults aged 16-75 as experiencing addiction or dependency on alcohol, drugs, medication or gambling at some point in their lives.
- The illegal drugs market in the UK is shifting in a worrying direction with the arrival of synthetic forms of opiate-type drugs.
5 years on from the COVID pandemic, how should a government respond? And how can the media support public health action through its coverage? Should the media support public health action?
The discussion will consider expert analysis on:
- Highest death stats on record
- Changing drug market – growing threat of opioids
- Growing alcohol misuse since the pandemic
- Access to treatment and recovery
- Humans behind the story – including impact on families
- Media reporting on addiction – reporting news – the celebratory and the stigma
Panel:
Dame Carol Black – UK Government advisor who led a two-part review on drugs treatment, recovery and prevention.
Dame Carol chairs NHS England/Improvement’s Advisory Board on Employee Health and Wellbeing, and is Adviser to NHSI and PHE on Health and Work. She has completed four independent reviews for the UK Government: the health of the working-age population; sickness absence in Britain; employment outcomes of addiction to drugs or alcohol, or obesity; and on illicit drugs, demand, supply and treatment.
Professor Black is a past-President of the Royal College of Physicians and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.
Guvna B – Multi award winning rap artist, writer and broadcaster.
Isaac Borquaye [Guvna B] is widely considered an influential and important voice within British rap music because of his inspiring and uplifting lyricism and his views on youth culture. He has appeared numerous times on television to discuss topics which affect young people from underprivileged communities. His sophomore book Unspoken: Toxic Masculinity and How I Faced the Man Within the Man (2021) became an Amazon bestseller. He has released nine albums and is the recipient of two MOBO Awards and three Urban Music Awards.
Guvna B is passionate about using his platform for meaningful impact. He is about to release his next album – a deeply personal project which includes a short film, where he opens up about his battle with addiction, a struggle that profoundly affected his life, including his marriage.
Baroness Anne Longfield – Founder Centre for Young Lives and former Children’s Commissioner for England.
Baroness Longfield is a passionate champion for children, influencing and shaping the national debate and policy agenda for children and their families. She has spent the last three decades working to improve the life chances of children, particularly the most vulnerable.
Baroness Longfield previously worked on the delivery of Sure Start for the government and established and chaired the Commission on YoungLives, an independent commission to develop proposals for a new national system to prevent crisis in vulnerable young people and support them to succeed in life. The Commission put forward ambitious and eye catching proposals to politicians and system leaders, several of which have been adopted.
Dr Caroline Copeland – Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology & Toxicology at King’s College London.
Dr Copeland is the Director of the National Programme on Substance Use Mortality (NPSUM). She heads a research group at King’s whose projects have the broad collective aim of improving healthcare strategies for people who use drugs. Dr Copeland has published over 30 research articles and successfully supervised three PhD students and over 40 MSc, MPharm and BSc student research projects.
She also sits on the Home Office’s Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs Novel Psychoactive Substances Sub-Committee, and the Welsh National Implementation Board for Drug Poisoning Prevention. In these roles Dr Copeland examines how national and international drug policy influences drug-related death trends.
Mike Trace – CEO of the Forward Trust and former UK Government drugs advisor.
Mike has had a 40-year history of working with marginalised communities. He served as the Deputy UK Anti-Drug Co-ordinator (1997- 2001) who created the UK’s first National Drug Strategy. A key element of the strategy was the creation of the National Treatment Agency that was tasked with overseeing an unprecedented expansion and delivery of public health and recovery support services for people with drug or alcohol problems.
Given his unique experience of writing, overseeing, and critiquing drug policies and strategies around the world, Mike continues to be called on to offer advice to governments and opposition parties, as well as commissions and committees, in the UK and internationally.
We hope that you can join us for this important conversation.
Details:
Thursday 3rd April 8:30am – 9:30 am (a light breakfast will be provided)
Financial Times building, Bracken House
1 Friday St
London
EC4M 9BT
Please note that this is an invitation only event for working journalists. Please RSVP to to confirm your attendance and any dietary or access requirements you may have.
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