Hilary at the Anyone's Child lobby of Parliament 2022 It’s been 4 years since my son Ben died from a heroin overdose. I would like to say the grief has lessened and I have come to some kind of peace and acceptance, but the truth is I haven’t found any peace. The [...]
Photographs of lost loved ones lay next to forget-me-not flowers. As a new day dawned on prohibition Britain, activists across the country prepared to join the Anyone's Child campaign for their annual lobby of Parliament. This year’s lobby marked the conclusion of the 50-year anniversary of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 [...]
Almost a century of evidence demonstrates that punitive, enforcement-led approaches to drugs have failed everywhere they have been tried. Prohibition and criminalisation were supposed to eradicate drug markets, deter people from using drugs, prevent harm and protect people - but they have done the opposite of that. Today, despite ballooning drug enforcement budgets, expanding drug [...]
All grief is isolating. We cannot help but feel that we are alone in the pain and the sadness of our loss. But in many ways I have been fortunate because I have been very well supported by a partner, close friends and family who have been extraordinarily understanding, who have reached out to [...]
This blog was written by Brian, a member of the Anyone's Child Family Network. In my previous blog post, I talked about the shame associated with drug taking: how that shame is at least partly a consequence of the criminalization of the use of drugs, how that shame leads to isolation, and how that isolation [...]
This blog was written by Anyone's Child campaigner Brian, whose son, Tom, died three days after his 37th birthday. This blog is the first of a series of reflections about my son’s death and the circumstances in which it took place. When my beloved son died in April 2020, it was in the middle [...]
This blog is written by Anyone's Child campaigner, Brian. People often say that you can never be prepared for the death of your child. I cannot imagine anything more shocking and distressing, but there are ways in which I had been preparing for it from the moment he was born. I wasn’t ready for it. [...]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 27th September 2021 West Yorkshire: Take Drugs Seriously Bereaved families and former police officers call for drugs to be legalised and regulated *Exclusive opportunity to visit the UK’s first Overdose Prevention Centre Ambulance.* This is a free event [...]
Anyone's Child meets Chris Daw QC We're delighted to present the latest in our 'Meet the Experts' series of films where we interview leading professionals whose work has led them to question our current prohibitionist approach to drugs. Chris Daw is one of the most notable barristers in the country having practised law for [...]
This blog was written by Ben Twomey, Head of Policy for the National Youth Advocacy Service and former drugs policy lead for three Police and Crime Commissioners, in West Midlands, Warwickshire and County Durham. He has also led on related issues including stop and search, organised crime, youth engagement and homelessness. Article originally published [...]
