17th Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP)

The seventeenth annual meeting of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP) will be held in Tiotià:ke/Montreal, Canada, from 19 June – 21 June 2024 at the University of Montreal Health Centre (CHUM).

Call for abstracts

There have been significant shifts in drug policy in recent years. Much of this has been catalysed by the North American drug overdose crisis, which has seen the rise of a multitude of harm reduction responses including trials of drug decriminalisation; various models and legislative frameworks for supervised drug consumption; and the rise of safer supply programs. The crisis has also, in some places, seen the application of drug-induced homicide laws and harsher sentencing for those supplying drugs to someone who has fatally overdosed. These opioid-related shifts have occurred alongside changes in responses to the supply and use of cannabis and some psychedelics, including the Government of Canada’s decision in October 2018 to became the second country to legalise and regulate the production, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis for non-medical purposes. Globally, policy scholars are laying bare the colonial origins and disproportionate impacts of drug policies on Indigenous, racialised and minoritized communities, and seeking new approaches to redress these harms. ISSDP 2024 will be an opportunity to draw together these strands of research and explore issues in evaluating the impacts of policy change in highly dynamic policy environments.

ISSDP calls for abstracts of studies examining the data, methods, implementation, evaluation, or historical underpinning of drug policies as well as studies seeking to understand how drug markets are currently working. For this year’s conference, we particularly encourage contributions that address the following conference themes:

1. Decolonising drug policy
2. Harm reduction policy-making and evidence
3. Inclusion of people with lived and living experience of illicit drug use in drug policy
4. Regional and global drug policy challenges
5. Transformations in drug legislative frameworks, e.g. decriminalisation, legalisation and regulation
6. Collisions between drug policy and medical use of drugs regulated under the UN Drug Control Conventions
7. Methodological advances in the study of drug policy

Papers in other areas are also welcome. The term “drugs” should be interpreted broadly to include any intoxicating substance used recreationally or extra-medically, as well as the diversion of chemicals used in drug production.

Papers can be submitted as oral presentations or posters. It is possible to indicate that you wish your paper to be considered as part of a panel.

Abstract submission closes December 13 2023.

Abstracts should be 200-250 words and should be structured including (as appropriate) background, objectives, methods, results and implications.

Click here to submit an abstract.

Submission review notifications by the end of January 2024. 

ISSDP conference style

The conference is multi-disciplinary, as befits the study of drug policy and supports qualitative and quantitative papers. ISSDP supports submission of written papers in advance of the conference. Discussants are used at each conference session, as a means to encourage debate and identify common themes, challenges and issues. For more information on the ISSDP conference style.

Conference location

The conference will be held in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, Canada on the traditional territory of the Kanien’kehà:ka, a place which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst many First Nations including the Kanien’kehá:ka of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Huron/Wendat, Abenaki, and Anishinaabeg. We recognize and respect the Kanien’kehà:ka as the traditional custodians of the lands and waters where we will meet.

A striking union of European charm and North American attitude, Montréal seduces visitors with a harmonious pairing of the historic and the new, from exquisite architecture to fine dining. It merits the moniker ‘international’ city, a cosmopolitan centre with proud roots in the past that enthusiastically embraces the future. For more information on Tiohtià:ke/Montréal.

Venue

The conference will take place at the Amphithéâtre Pierre-Péladeau, located at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, 1050 Saint Denis St, Montreal, Quebec H2X 3J4. The venue is close to Montréal’s historic Old Port, less than 5 minutes walk from Champ de Mars metro station (Orange line) and 10 minutes walk from Berri-UQAM metro station (Green, Orange and Yellow lines).

Registration

Registration will be available soon.

Accommodation

Accommodation information will be available soon.