Prescribing and research consent for people who use benzodiazepines with Dr Karen Berry

In this podcast Rob Calder talks to Dr Karen Berry about the latest research in treatment for benzodiazepine use. They discuss the recent rise of illicit and prescribed benzodiazepines in recent years; the difference between prescribed and street drugs, and how drugs prescribed in the US are making their way onto illicit markets. “They've become a rising issue both as illicit benzos like etizolam...And then also people are using prescribed diazepam, but it's not prescribed to them. So they're able to get hold of proper diazepam but on the street.”Karen talks about her latest research project looking at prescribing regimes for people who want to address benzodiazepine use. She discusses why the team recruited people who use both benzodiazepines and opiates and the implications of their research for drug overdose deaths. Karen also talks about some of the issues raised by the project about gaining consent from participants and how that consent can change throughout an intervention and across different appointments and research team members. Dr Karen Berry is a research fellow at the University of Stirling employed by the Salvation Army Centre for Addiction and Substance Research.The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the guest(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.