Drug law reform, Stigma and harm reduction

Associate Professor Fiona Hutton's work focuses on drug law reform, the impact of stigma on people who use drugs (PWUD) and harm reduction. She was one of the key advocates for evidence-based drug law reform in New Zealand during the 2020 referendum on legalising cannabis, and recent research in collaboration with KnowYourStuffNZ underpinned the law changes that legalised drug checking in the New Zealand context (Drug Checking in New Zealand: the 2020 and 2021 Drug and Substance Checking Legislation Acts, Drugs, Habits and Social Policy. 23 (3) 2022, pp. 200-206 ). Fiona is passionate about evidence based drug law reform and reducing drug-law-related (and other) harms related to the use of illicit substances.

Stigma is one of the main barriers to both reform and harm reduction and Fiona’s recent work has focused on developing theory around stigma in relation to new psychoactive substances, both in her 2020 book ‘Cultures of Intoxication: key issues and debates’, and a 2021 journal publication (The co-production of shifting intoxications: synthetic cannabinoids, stigma, risk and harm, Drugs, Education, Prevention and Policy, 29 (4), pp. 415–425 https://doi.org/10.1080/09687637.2022.2042486). Stigma is also explored in her current research which gathers the stories of people who have received a conviction for illicit substance-related offences.

Fiona’s most recent research has explored access to and effectiveness of medical cannabis/cannabis products in the New Zealand context, working with cannabis advocates and ‘Green Fairies’ to improve availability for people who find cannabis helpful. Despite a legal medicinal cannabis scheme and recent legislation, many New Zealanders are still unable to access cannabis products and this is something this research would like to see changed.