Mike Ashton, the editor of the Drug and Alcohol Findings Effectiveness Bank, will be moderating one
of the two debates between Professor Stanton Peele and Professor Neil McKeganey in Glasgow and
Edinburgh on September 21st and 22nd, 2011. These influential figures will debate the future of harm
reduction and prevention approaches to drug policy and treatment in the UK.
For more information and to book go to:
http://addictiondebates.com/index.php/forthcoming-debates/
The text below is based on the invitation drafted by the organisers of the debates.

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It is with great pleasure that we invite you to witness two of the most influential addiction
experts of the past 30 years as they go head-to-head on some of the most contentious issues facing
UK drug treatment providers and policy makers in the 21st century. Peele and McKeganey will be
debating:
* The individual and community health impact of harm reduction strategies
* Drug prevention strategies aimed at reducing supply and demand
* Drug criminalisation, decriminalisation, legalisation, and regulation
* Abstinence-based drug and alcohol treatment programmes
* Methadone maintenance, needle exchange, and safe injection facilities
* The policy implications of treating addiction as a brain disease
* And many other topics

After the formal debate, Peele and McKeganey will be taking questions from the audience.

Stanton Peele and Neil McKeganey have written extensively on these issues but have never publicly
debated one another. Given their divergence of opinion, these debates promise to be
thought-provoking, insightful, and ultimately constructive for those working in drug prevention,
education, treatment, and policy. These debates are truly not to be missed.

Stanton Peele argues that harm reduction is the most important innovation in addiction policy and
treatment, since it recognises that permanent abstinence is a rare and unlikely occurrence for both
adolescents and addicts. For both children and addicts, the goal of never using is not a sufficient,
or even a preferable, plan for life. McKeganey has argued that the policy and practice shift towards
reducing drug-related harms has had only a modest effect, and that the time is now right for the UK
to renew its focus on effective drug prevention and recovery-oriented drug treatment. Harm
reduction, McKeganey has suggested, presents a counsel of despair.

These debates will be moderated by Mike Ashton (Editor of Drug and Alcohol Findings - Glasgow
debate) and Dr Roy Robertson (University of Edinburgh - Edinburgh debate). Tickets are 15 UK pounds
and rapidly selling out, especially for the Glasgow debate. Reserve your seat early to avoid missing
out.

For more details and to purchase tickets, go to:
http://addictiondebates.com/index.php/forthcoming-debates/

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Drug and Alcohol Findings is managed by DrugScope, Alcohol Concern and the National Addiction
Centre, the two leading UK drug and alcohol information charities and its leading clinical/research
centre. The Effectiveness Bank is supported by Alcohol Research UK (formerly the AERC;
http://www.aerc.org.uk).
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