Illicit Trade and Public Health

Before LEPH 2026 gets underway, join us for a half-day workshop to unpack the relationship between illicit trade, law enforcement, and public health.

Date: Sunday 6 September 2026

Time: 9am – 12pm

Location: Newlyn Building, Mount Preston Street, Leeds LS2 9ND

Workshop is free. Spaces are limited. 

Many countries are facing an epidemic of drug use, poisoning, and death characterized by the spread of multiple, increasingly toxic substances, a health crisis rivalling some of the worst of the last century.

This epidemic arose despite a century of criminalization and punitive measures employed to address drug use, which have since failed to prevent drug abuse, make the drug supply safer, or improve health outcomes, and in many instances, have inadvertently made them worse.

While the drug crisis and its harms persist, the evidence shows people who use drugs are also hurt by drug enforcement, punitive laws, and social stigmatization, which add to rather than alleviate the damage of drugs and addiction.

These unintended consequences of drug law enforcement arise when we fail to account for the interdependencies that exist between trade, law enforcement, and community and public health.

This workshop will explore those interdependencies and how breaking down the silos among trade, law enforcement, and public health offers opportunities to combat illicit trade.

This event is being organized by GLEPHA’s Special Interest Group on Illicit Trade and Public Health.