The Beckley Foundation is currently organising a series of seminars, 'Society and Drugs: A Rational Perspective,' to address the issue of drug use in society from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The aim of the series is to achieve a rational overview of the scientific, medical, social, political and economic issues surrounding the use and abuse of drugs, both legal and illegal, promoting evidence-based practice in all jurisdictions.

These seminars bring together experts from a wide range of disciplines to examine the latest evidence on:

• The effects of different drugs on the brain, behaviour and health.
   
• The effectiveness of different methods of informing and educating the public (particularly young people) about drugs and the consequences of their use.
   
• Issues in prevention and treatment of addiction, including the relative merits of education and rehabilitation versus penalties and incarceration.
   
• The likely consequences of changes in legislation, and their implications for public health, law and order, and the economy.
   

In 2002 the first seminar in this series was held at Magdalen College, Oxford. It was entitled 'Drugs and the Brain', and was organised in conjunction with Prof. Colin Blakemore, now Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council. Events in 2003 included a meeting at the Royal Society to discuss 'The Role of Drugs in Society' and a seminar held at Admiralty Arch, London, organised in association with the UK Cabinet Office Strategy Unit, entitled 'An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Alcohol and other Recreational Drugs'. In October 2004, The Beckley Foundation hosted a seminar entitled 'Global Drug Policy - Future Directions'. This event, held in the magnificent surroundings of the Moses Room in the UK Houses of Parliament, was our first attempt to focus on international issues. At this seminar we also launched two new initiatives: The International Society for the Study of Drug Policy and the International Drug Policy Consortium.

Following the success of the House of Lords seminar on global drug policy in 2004, we are now planning to bring together a small number of high level policymakers, academics and NGOs on an annual basis, to review the latest evidence and debate future policy options in an atmosphere of mutual respect and confidentiality. The 'Beckley Foundation Global Drug Policy Seminar 2005' consisted of a number of interlinked meetings that took place across a three day period - Sunday 20th November to Tuesday 22nd November. The main seminar on Monday 21st November brought together senior politicians and policy officials, academics and NGOs, in order to review and debate the latest evidence and experience on illegal drug use, and the policies and programmes designed to respond to these issues. It also covered the effects that current regulations have on scientific and medical research.

This seminar was arranged to review the preparations for the forthcoming global review of the international drug control system. The review by national governments, under the auspices of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), is likely to consist of the collation of data and evidence that describe progress and problems since the last review in 1998, the consideration of that material by national governments, and a high-level political meeting to discuss lessons learned and map out the way forward. There are signs that the contribution of Civil Society - NGOs, professional bodies and academics - to this process, has the potential to be much more integrated than it has been in previous reviews.

In 2008, the Beckley Foundation's seventh seminar saw the launch of the Beckley Foundation Global Cannabis Commission on the first day and a high-level review of preparations for the UNGASS Review of Global Drug Policy in 2009 on the second.

The Beckley Foundation is also currently organising a series of Trialogues on Consciousness.