Stop and Search

Donick Cary has had an incredible career. He's been a writer and producer on legendary shows such as The Simpsons, Parks and Recreation, New Girl, and many more. During his career he's met and spoken with many public figures about their personal journeys with psychedelics, so... he decided to turn this into a film! On Netflix you can watch the feature documentary Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Ps...

Ash Sarkar is the Senior Editor at Novara Media and also teaches at the Sandberg Institute. Ash is a regular commentator on Newsnight, BBC Question Time and most news sites. In this very enlightening conversation Ash joins us to talk about the divisive nature of our drug laws and the impact on society - especially when it comes to BAME communities. You can follow Ash on twitter . This episode was...

What's it like to literally talk someone down from a ledge? How do you cope with being a witness to the most extreme examples of domestic violence, terrorism, and murder? John Sutherland explains... Having served on the frontlines of policing, from PC level, all the way to Chief Superintendent, John has seen the best and worst of society. He's been a negotiator, charged with communicating with the...

We're going to lift the curtain and go behind the scenes of drug law reform. Let's have some honesty about what it's really like working on the front-lines of this global issue! Joining us to give their valuable and candid insight: Sanho Tree - Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, and Director of its Drug Policy Project since 1998, Sanho is former military and diplomatic historian and has b...

Author and journalist Antony Loewenstein spent nearly five years writing his incredible book, Pills, Powder, and Smoke: Inside the Bloody War on Drugs. This is a truly enlightening conversation about the writing of his book, and how Antony put his own safety on the line for his travels and research. The 'war on drugs' is wide-ranging, and Antony does a fantastic job in painting the bigger picture....

Comedian Tez Ilyas joins us to talk about a whole load of things! Firstly, we chat about chicken boxes... which is a first for us on this podcast, but all will be explained #KnifeCrime Tez has received a lot of critical acclaim for his stand-up comedy as well as his primetime TV show, The Tez O'Clock Show, so we also ask him about the importance of comedy and satire, especially how it relates to s...

Murder Mountain is a documentary series on Netflix which is directed by Joshua Zeman - it takes a look at the legendary emerald triangle in California. This region is also infamous for another reason, hence why it gets the name Murder Mountain... It's estimated that 80% of the blackmarket cannabis in the US historically comes from the emerald triangle, so how did it start? Who lives and grows ther...

Having worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry from an early age, Secret Drug Addict dabbled in a few substances during his time on the scene and now he speaks eloquently about his journey with drugs, addiction, and recovery. Having been at the epicentre on Brit Pop and the infamous bands of that era, as you may imagine, he's got some stories to tell! Secret Drug Addict is a Tw...

We're discussing the global drugs chain. From consumer countries, producer countries, and transit countries, the global chain for drugs is wide-ranging, but sometimes the links in the chain are not immediately obvious. We're joined by a great panel to discuss the many overlaps in the global drugs economy and to explain why none of us are free from the impacts and consequences: Tom Wainwright is a...

On The President's Orders is a film directed by James Jones and Olivier Sarbil. In this startling documentary we get to see the Philippines' drug war from an up-close perspective. We're joined by James Jones to discuss the making of this eye-opening movie. Shot like a Hollywood blockbuster, the beautiful cinematography is in stark contrast to the ultra-realism of subject matter. With a focus on ke...

Iain Lee is a well known UK TV and radio presenter, with his show on Talkradio being renowned for its open dialogue on a range of issues, some of which can prove difficult topics. Iain also came third on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here , but he's also been very open about his own battles with mental health - we could not be more privileged in being able to have an extremely open and honest c...

This is a Transform Drug Policy Foundation takeover of the podcast! Join Transform ' s CEO, James Nicholls , as he hosts three key players from the North and South American drug policy reform scene: Kathryn Ledubur - Director of Andean Information Network Sanho Tree - Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies Shaleen Title - A Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commissioner How do we make sure t...

Michael Fuller was the UK's first black Chief Constable and his journey to this position is quite the story. Kill The Black One First is the title of Michael's memoir and it goes into his amazing career, his unique upbringing, and also many stories from his decades within the police force: "Kill the black one first!" was shouted at Michael as he stood shield-to-shield with his fellow officers on t...

Nish Kumar, he doesn't really need an introduction does he?! Nish recently had an appearance on BBC 1 Question Time where he had a debate with Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips over Stop and Search powers and race disparity, so we invited Nish to follow up on this discussion! We talk about Stop and Search, race relations, the media, the power of satire, and how he would be grateful if he could...

The Fear of 13 is the self-told tale of Nick Yarris, a prisoner who spent 22 years on death row. Nick's incarceration - and time spent in solitary confinement - led him to request his own execution. Nick wrote the book The Fear of 13 which was subsequently made into a film - currently available on Netflix. We're joined by one of the producers of the film, BAFTA and Emmy nominated filmmaker, Christ...

A very special episode recorded on the parliamentary estate at Portcullis House in Westminster. We're joined by a panel of parliamentarians and members from the incredible campaign group, Anyone's Child. We're talking about the journey of drug policy reform: Anyone's Child members are walking the Thames Pathway all the way to Westminster - a day of mass lobbying is to take place on June 25th. This...

We need to keep talking about the Philippines and their literal war on drugs, predicated by President Rodrigo Duterte. We're joined by a trio of journalists who have covered this subject, both on the ground and within the presidential palace, but also how this fits in relation to international drug policy. Jonathan Miller is Channel 4 News' Asia Correspondent and author of the biography Duterte Ha...

Marilou Gagnon is a nurse, a professor, and a tireless harm reduction worker who is part of an inspiring movement in Canada which literally saves lives. In this episode we talk about pop-up overdose prevention sites, a new way of preventing people dying in Canada and Marilou is at the forefront of this new frontier. We also chat about the growing conversation for safe supplies - can Canada initiat...

After coming back from their fact-finding trip to the US, the team behind Jonathan Pie join us to discuss their BBC film Jonathan Pie's American Pie. And oh wow, is this a conversation?! Our guests: Tom Walker, the person behind the Jonathan Pie . And we have an all-star list of previous guests in: Andrew Doyle , co-writer of Jonathan Pie. Olly Pollard , producer and co-director of Jonathan Pie's...

Southeast Asia's crime waves range from drugs to human trafficking and these trades are extremely lucrative, and yet the West doesn't seem to talk about it very much. Why? We have a much needed conversation with award winning journalist Patrick Winn. We chat about the writing of his book 'Hello, Shadowlands' and the unprecedented insights he got into the region's meth trade. We also take a look at...

The British Medical Journal (BMJ) is one of the most respected publications in the world, so much so that it doesn't really need an introduction, does it? We're joined by: Ian Hamilton, mental health worker and academic who's written for the BMJ, Independent, and many other publications Dr Fiona Godlee, the Editor in Chief for the BMJ Richard Hurley, the Features and Debates editor for the BMJ In...

Channel 4 Hunted's Peter Bleksley and Danni Brooke, and documentary filmmaker Aaron Roach Bridgeman... do we have a chat or what?! This is a very powerful look into drugs, gangs, the mafia, undercover work, and the UK streets. Each guest can give an incredible insight from their rather unique perspective. All three of our guests are now media professionals, but each one of them is very familiar wi...

We're joined by Hunted's Chief, Peter Bleksley, Hunted's Danni Brooke, and documentary maker Aaron Roach Bridgeman. We're talking about television, crime, documentaries, and the realities. All three of our guests are now prominent media figures, but each one of them has a very interesting background: Peter Bleksley is now the Chief on Channel 4's hit programme Hunted, and Peter is also a regular p...

Jim Connolly made a film for BBC Newsbeat where he investigated the dark web and the rather new trend of mail order drugs. How easy is it? What goes on? And what can we learn? We're talking about drugs in the post. As a journalist, Jim was eager to look the headlines and see for himself what's going on with regards to mail order drugs. Is it something that anyone can do, or do you need some degree...

Sir Simon Jenkins was one of the first journalists to cast a questioning eye over the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. We were very lucky to be invited into Sir Simon's house where we have a very interesting discussion on the historical aspects of our drug laws and how they work in today's society. Writing for The Guardian and author of many books on history, it's fair to say that Simon is one of the cou...