18th Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP)

The 18th annual ISSDP conference 11-13 June 2025, hosted by the Drugs, Policy, and Social Change (DPSC) research group at Manchester Metropolitan University, envisions a transformative dialogue on drug policy grounded in social justice. Our aim is to foster an inclusive platform where diverse voices from affected communities, practitioners, and policymakers converge to explore and address the complexities of drug policy processes and formation.

Social justice is important in drug policy to ensure that policies are fair, equitable, and inclusive, addressing the needs of all individuals, especially marginalised and vulnerable populations. Drug policy consistently shows that the most marginalised are disproportionately impacted and that many new reforms either exacerbate gaps or fail to reduce these gaps. Novel ways of thinking about how to improve social justice in drug policy is thus a key focus for this conference.

With ISSDP’s primary focus on connecting and facilitating world-leading drug policy research, the conference will also highlight novel methodological approaches to analysing drug policy and a broad range of scholarship across the drug market, incorporating use, supply, cultivation/production and trafficking as well as other sub-themes (see below).

The conference invites contributions from scholars from the Global North and the Global South. By doing so, it aims to promote a comprehensive understanding of drug policy issues worldwide and identifying ways to advance drug policy and practice.

Themes:

1. Drug Markets, Production, and Supply
2. Methodological Innovations
3. Equity and Equality in Drug Policy
4. Geopolitics of Drug Policy
5. Harm Reduction
6. Culture and Moralities