In Memoriam: Professor Dave Bewley-Taylor

September 24, 1968 – November 20, 2024

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Dave Bewley-Taylor, the co-founder of IDPC, passed away on 20th November 2024 after a valiant and long battle with cancer.

Dave’s impact and legacy within the drug policy reform sector are immeasurable. As well as co-founding IDPC and supporting the growth of the network since the mid-2000s, he was also the founding Secretary of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP) and the founding Director of the Global Drug Policy Observatory (GDPO) – housed within Swansea University where Dave was also Professor of International Relations and Public Policy. He also held advisory, committee and associate roles at a range of key organisations in the sector – including IDPC (where he led on several regular report such as the CND Proceedings), the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy, the Transnational Institute, the Beckley Foundation, and the Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation.

In 2021, Dave and GDPO worked alongside IDPC and other partners to conceptualise and deliver the world’s first Global Drug Policy Index. His interdisciplinary research often focused on the United Nations and international drug control policies. In addition to numerous book chapters and journal articles, he has written two major research monographs: The United States and International Drug Control, 1909-1997 (Continuum, 2001) and International Drug Control: Consensus Fractured (Cambridge University Press, 2012), and is co-editor of the Research Handbook on International Drug Control Policy (Edward Elgar 2020). In Autumn 2023, Dave was also conferred to the Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences in recognition of his important and impactful work.

For many, Dave was simultaneously a source of immense knowledge and wisdom, a kind mentor, a CND veteran, a fierce advocate, and a much-loved friend who will be greatly missed the world over. His work will continue to guide and inspire many and his legacy lives on. Dave passed away at home, surrounded by family, pain-free and in peace.

A remembrance page has been set-up for colleagues and friends from across the world, and which is also being shared with Dave’s wife and family to ensure they know how much he will be missed and how highly he was regarded. Please add your own memories, photos and condolences here.

If you would like to send a donation in Dave’s memory to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, please see this Just Giving page which has been set-up by his family.