Release's Drugs, Race & Discrimination Conference

Release’s annual conference this year takes the important step of focusing the industry on the complex and damaging practice of routine prejudice in health services. The morning session of this one-day event includes addresses by two doctors and a nurse, each of whom have vital experiences in the drug treatment field. Dr Gordon Morse is the new Clinical Lead for the Turning Point Integrated Drug and Alcohol Service in Somerset. Dr Morse will look at how treatment attitudes towards the personal use of psychoactive drugs amount to simple prejudice. He will also examine how treatment systems set up to help those who are suffering the direct or indirect consequences of their drug use, are also influenced by institutional discrimination that arises from the same prejudices. Mandie Wilkinson, a qualified nurse for over 25 years, now leads the Blood Borne Virus nursing team at a large London hospital. She will examine how current prejudices in the treatment sector lead to limited options for drug users infected with Hepatitis C. Mandie’s research shows that there are high rates of treatment compliance amongst active injecting drug users, indicating that refusal to treat such individuals amounts to little more than discrimination. The other sessions will include talks from leading experts in the field of youth discrimination and racial prejudice. The original material and latest research that will be presented at this event is crucial for understanding and informing the drug policy debate. There will be time for contributions from the floor during each session and plenty of networking opportunities throughout the day. This is an event not to be missed. For more information including registration, see http://www.release.org.uk/ or contact Claudia Rubin at 020 7749 4037 or claudia@release.org.uk.