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Sam Shirley-Beavan

@samshirls.bsky.social
198 followers 240 following 44 posts

PhD in harm reduction, drug policy and drug peace. 📍Maputo, Mozambique

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Reposted by Sam Shirley-Beavan
Harm Reduction International @harmreductionintl.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
You asked. We listened. We have extended the abstract submission deadline for #HR27Belfast! Submit your abstract before Friday, 9 October. hr27.hri.global/call-for-abstracts/
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Reposted by Sam Shirley-Beavan
Chris Terry-Enescu @cjterry.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Truly wild to have lived through moral panics about teenagers wearing hoodies and Muslim women wearing the head dress to now experience 'but is a large group of organised far right activists in balaclavas really that scary'
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Reposted by Sam Shirley-Beavan
Beau Kilmer @beaukilmer.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Looking for research ideas on illegal markets? Teaching a crime/econ/policy course & need intros about various markets (sex, guns, wildlife, drugs, fishing, counterfeit goods, tobacco, human smuggling, money laundering) 👇 www.pnas.org/post/update/...
pnas.org
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
"The government will repeal the Vagrancy Act on Monday 29 June 2026, ending nearly two centuries of legislation that has criminalised rough sleeping and begging" www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
Rough sleeping no longer a crime as Vagrancy Act repealed
The government will repeal the Vagrancy Act on Monday 29 June 2026, ending nearly two centuries of legislation that has criminalised rough sleeping and begging.
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
It's how you get alliances between traditionalists and radicals, and weird ideological oxymorons like 'conservative ultra-liberalism'. This article is good on the Latin American right. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Tony Wood · Sell Your Children: Latin America Shifts Right
It’s​ striking how thoroughly Latin America’s contemporary right has absorbed neoliberalism. Earlier cohorts...
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Isn't it fundamentally about defending elite interests against perceived threats? They all have a different version of the elite they want to preserve (wealthy, white, Christian, western, male), but there's enough overlap to make it appear coherent. Dressed up as anti-elitism, naturally.
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Reposted by Sam Shirley-Beavan
George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Almost everything we argue about is a substitute for the thing we should be arguing about: the immense wealth & power of an oligarchic class, which captures governments, ruins lives and wrecks the living planet. This class redirects our rage at scapegoats. To resist its lies is to resist its power.
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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Release was founded in 1967, meaning we turn 60 next year 🎉 This funded PhD opportunity to study 6 decades of our history has just been announced, supervised by @tobyseddon.bsky.social and @alexmold.bsky.social Take a look, share, and apply by 27th March! bloomsbury.ac.uk/drugs-civil-...
bloomsbury.ac.uk
Drugs, Civil Rights and the Alternative Society: A History of Release
Principal Supervisor: Professor Toby Seddon (UCL) Co-Supervisor: Professor Alex Mold (LSHTM) Project Description Background Described as the oldest independent drugs charity in the world, Release w…
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Mallory Moore @sexabolition.blog · 27/02/2026
Also I couldn't be more glad at the demonstration that threatening a Manchester suburb with the threat of drug decriminalisation is a fucking stupid political strategy for Labour. Many families will know people who have had their lives destroyed by criminalisation.
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
So what? (1) Interpersonal violence is an important drug-related harm that should be addressed by harm reduction programmes (2) Interpersonal violence is an inevitable consequence of the War on Drugs: Harm reduction should aim to end that war and pursue peace.
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Finally, alongside being displaced, other intersecting identities also exposed people to greater violence. This was true of women, migrants, racialised people and older people.
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
💣 ARMED GROUPS: Several people I spoke to had been forced to leave their homes by armed groups because they used drugs. They arrived in Bogotá without a social network other than the one provided by drug markets. That made them even more vulnerable to the all the other sources of violence.
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
🤝 PEERS: The structural conditions of scarcity, poverty and criminalisation make interactions between peers on the street fraught with danger. Small disputes (e.g. literally over a broken match) can escalate quickly to serious violence.
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
🦹‍♂️ CRIMINAL GROUPS: When one group ‘controls’ a drug market, they violently enforce their own rules. When there is competition, navigating the drug market becomes delicate and dangerous, as groups use violence against customers prevent rivals from operating.
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
🚓 POLICE: Despite Colombia’s decriminalisation of personal drug use, people who smoke basuco and live on the street still face police violence. The risk of violent encounters with police pushes them into more hidden spaces, where they are more vulnerable to…
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
The violence was perpetrated against them by police (and so-called “vigilantes”), armed and criminal groups, as well as by peers in the community itself.
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Among people I spoke to, interpersonal violence was often the very first thing they mentioned when I asked about harms related to using basuco.
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Excited to share the first published paper from my PhD project - an ethnographic project studying drug-related harm among people who smoke cocaine (basuco) in Bogotá, Colombia. authors.elsevier.com/a/1mfcN3PEro...
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Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
The UK parliament now has an MP who is openly racist and far right. This is, for the current era, new ground, and it will be interesting to see how - if at all – other MPs respond.
Restore Britain will, without apology or fear, deport the third world orcs who break into our country, rape young women and then expect the British to tolerate their presence.

There is finally a political party that will defend our home, our people, our shires.

Restore Britain.
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
His MO has always been “The real problem with [Bad Thing] is the reaction to [Bad Thing]”. The effect is to shut down criticism and defend the status quo.
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Reposted by Sam Shirley-Beavan
Toby Seddon @tobyseddon.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
New PhD studentship opportunity! Research and write the history of Release, supervised by me and @alexmold.bsky.social! bloomsbury.ac.uk/drugs-civil-...
bloomsbury.ac.uk
Drugs, Civil Rights and the Alternative Society: A History of Release
Principal Supervisor: Professor Toby Seddon (UCL) Co-Supervisor: Professor Alex Mold (LSHTM) Project Description Background Described as the oldest independent drugs charity in the world, Release w…
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
The question, though, is whether the harms become even greater for those that do 'evade' a ban, and how that changes the equation. Drug policy is one area where the evidence suggests the harms for those people (i.e. people who use illicit drugs) are vastly increased by prohibition.
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Reposted by Sam Shirley-Beavan
Aurelien Mondon @aurelmondon.com · 09/02/2026
If the issue we are facing now is polarisation then the solution is to be found in between fascism and anti-fascism, racism and anti-fascism, authoritarianism and democracy Maybe then that's not the clever, reasonable argument some think it is...
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Let's all just take a breath and remember that AI assistants are Dunning-Kruger Clippy.
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
On #WorldAIDSDay, remember that people are still catching HIV from sharing injecting equipment. And this can be prevented. #HarmReduction
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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
On the morning of Keir Starmer's conference speech here's a new post on an odd psychopathology in British politics - our main parties don't like the people who vote for them - the dreaded Professional Managerial Class. And so they are acting out like a divorced dad seeking cooler voters. 1/n
benansell.substack.com
British Politics' Midlife Crisis
Why British Parties Can't Make Peace with Their Actual Voters
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Release: Drugs, The Law & Your Rights @releasedrugs.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
www.bbc.com/news/article... An estimated 13,000 opioid-related deaths have been left out of official drug deaths from 2013-2022 - 50% higher than previously known. This means what was already dire numbers were actually worse than expected. But would things have been different with this info?
bbc.com
Thousands of opioid deaths missed off official figures
The error - affecting England and Wales - raises concerns about the impact on the government's approach to drug deaths.
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Teresa Degenhardt @drtdegenhardt.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
Call from Palestinian Scholars to boycott the European Society of Criminology #EuroCrim2025 Link below
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Abolish the Home Office.
theguardian.com
UK Home Office tells parents their children should return to Brazil alone
While Ana Luiza Cabral Gouveia and Hugo Barbosa can remain, letter says sons, 11 and eight, must go back to Brazil
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
Exactly this. Let’s not give the drug war yet another tool to mask the real problem.
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Clapton CFC @claptoncfc.co.uk · 25/05/2025
More information on the L&SERWFL Trophy final between Clapton CFC Women's First Team and Dulwich Hamlet Reserves at Maidstone United today 🇵🇸✊ www.claptoncfc.co.uk/2025/05/25/c...
claptoncfc.co.uk
Clapton CFC Women's First Team cup final is abandoned - Clapton Community FC
Today's cup final between Clapton CFC Women's First Team and Dulwich Hamlet Reserves at Maidstone United's Gallagher Stadium was abandoned with Clapton leading 2-0.
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
A nail biter! I’m sure you’ll be back on top next season 🏆
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Also sceptical of this supposed 60% reduction in reoffending - surely the people who "volunteer" are those most motivated to reduce these behaviours anyway? Plus, is there not a risk that this drives people to find arousal in ever more extreme ways?
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
I'm not an expert in this by any stretch, but I am uncomfortable with 'do this or stay in prison' being presented as "voluntary". www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
theguardian.com
Shabana Mahmood considers chemical castration for serious sex offenders
Justice secretary expected to back radical sentencing reforms, including use of libido-suppressing drugs in England and Wales
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
Nice one, congratulations!
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International Journal of Drug Policy @ijdrugpolicy.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
🔎 Special Issue Alert 🔍 This Special Issue seeks to provide ways in which we can understand drug-related violence. Submission Deadline is September, 15th, 2025. Link: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu... #InternationalDrugPolicy #DrugRelatedViolence
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Aurelien Mondon @aurelmondon.com · 12/05/2025
As I argue in the article linked below, "concerns about immigration" are created in a top down manner and focusing on this only serves to legitimise and normalise the far right Starmer is not trying to counter Reform, he's normalising far right politics journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Guardian headlines about Starmer promising significant fall in immigration
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Ben Scher @ben-scher.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Very excited to share our new paper in @ijdrugpolicy.bsky.social 🎉 In this paper we look at experiences of people who use drugs in public and semi public drug consumption environments and the need for OPCs in England.
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manvir singh @manvir.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
People often claim psychedelics have been used globally, for millennia, & in rituals of psychological healing. In today's Guardian Long Read, I show what these stories get wrong & why the reality is far more interesting: www.theguardian.com/science/2025... From "Shamanism: The Timeless Religion"
theguardian.com
The ancient psychedelics myth: ‘People tell tourists the stories they think are interesting for them’
The narrative of ancient tribes around the world regularly using ayahuasca and magic mushrooms in healing practices is a popular one. Is it true?
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Ben Scher @ben-scher.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Is the UK shifting its approach to drug policy? Why is drug policy more important than ever in today's geopolitics? What does global evidence say about OPCs? It was great to join Sam Lewis from the Human Condition Podcast to discuss these questions...check out our full discussion below 👇
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troy farah @troyfarah.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
good for booker, good for crawford, but really, this should be the top news story and nothing else is close www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
theguardian.com
Palestinian paramedics shot by Israeli forces had hands tied, eyewitnesses say
Senior doctor who saw bodies says men appeared to have been ‘executed’, adding to evidence of potential war crime
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Drug Policy Alliance @drugpolicy.org · 01/04/2025
Trump is cutting billions from treatment and health interventions that keep people safe from fentanyl to justify increasing border control funding. Shifting funds to enforcement jeopardizes the solutions that we know work. We need to protect programs that keep people safe.
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Open Labour @openlabour.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
Read our full statement on the UK in the World. Labour must be a beacon not a weathervane – neither national nor human security is advanced by jeopardising the world’s poorest, nor making things harder for its most fragile states.
Statement
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Shannon Watts @shannonrwatts.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
“The entire staff of the federal government's Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy is expected to be laid off.”
cbsnews.com
RFK Jr. to gut vaccine promotion and HIV prevention office, sources say
Much of the federal government's efforts to buoy lagging childhood vaccination rates have been run through the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy.
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Harm Reduction International @harmreductionintl.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
We are seeking two new trustees with strong commitment to HRI’s vision and mission to join our board of trustees. hri.global/vacancies/trustee-vacancy-2/
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Aurelien Mondon @aurelmondon.com · 22/03/2025
We know immigration as a concern is a top-down construction that allows the mainstream elite to avoid tackling real crises We know it only serves to mainstream the far right further Labour (and the Conservatives) are complicit rather than an alternative to the far right which is running the show
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Alex Stevens @profalexstevens.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Just out in #HarmReductionJournal: another article from our realist review of international evidence on overdose prevention centres (AKA drug consumption rooms, supervised injecting facilities), showing how and for whom they work #harmreduction #OPCPrep 1/7 links.springernature.com/f/a/hWOfNJIE...
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Nick Kristof @nickkristof.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Meet Evan Anzoo, a five-year-old boy in South Sudan who died when Elon Musk shut down USAID and the boy lost access to his HIV meds. Musk says no one has died because of the aid shutdown, but that's because he didn't look. RIP, Evan, you deserved better. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
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Harm Reduction International @harmreductionintl.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Which countries carried out the most executions for drug offences? 🔴Iran: 485 (79% of known cases globally). 🔴Saudi Arabia: 122 —a 6000% surge from 2023. 🔴China: unknown, like hundreds. 🔴Singapore: 8. Learn more: shorturl.at/bf6Td #StopExecutions #EndTheDeathPenalty
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Sam Shirley-Beavan @samshirls.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Also particularly galling is the Camden counsel's argument that "a witness from the hostel should not be allowed to give evidence because he had a criminal record and was therefore not of good character."
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