Dr. Laura Garius is the Policy Lead at Release. Release is the national centre of expertise on drugs and drugs law in the UK. Laura is a criminologist and obtained her doctorate from Loughborough University. Prior to joining Release, Laura was a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Nottingham Trent University and lectured on the topic of drugs and society. Laura has researched both alcohol and drug-related harm, and advocates for evidence-based drug policy, harm-reduction approaches, and social justice. She runs the Drug Market Monitoring Network, which has been monitoring changes in the UK drug market during the coronavirus pandemic, and has co-authored a number of policy papers and policy responses evidencing the need for drug policy reform in the UK.
Scientific article on COVID-19 and crime
• Aldridge, J., Garius, L., Spicer, J., Harris, M., Moore, K. & Eastwood, N. (2021) Drugs in the Time of COVID: The UK Drug Market Response to Lockdown Restrictions, London: Release, https://www.release.org.uk/publications/covid-drugs-market-survey