Drug-related deaths in the LGBTQ+ community with Emmert Roberts

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Emmert Roberts, Senior Clinical Lecturer at the National Addiction Centre, King’s College London and a Consultant Addiction Psychiatrist at the South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. The interview covers Emmert’s short report examining the characteristics of drug-related deaths among individuals identified as LGBTQ+ in the United Kingdom, 1997–2024.

LGBTQ+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer and others.

• The importance of examining drug-related deaths among those in the LGBTQ+ community [01:31]
• The use of the National Program on Substance Use Mortality database [04:00]
• The main findings of the study [05:05]
• The types of drugs used in sexualised and non-sexualised drug use [08:31]
• The limitations of the reporting of sexual orientation or trans status in coroner data [10:18]
• Improving the reporting of sexual orientation and trans status in coroner data [13:02]
• The implications of the findings for policy and practice [16:04]
• A sneak preview of findings from Emmert’s other paper in Addiction on methamphetamine-related deaths [17:07]
• The findings that were surprising to Emmert [18:59]

About Elle Wadsworth: Elle is an academic fellow with the Society for the Study of Addiction. She is based at the University of Bath with the Addiction and Mental Health Group and her research interests include drug policy, cannabis legalisation, and public health.

About Emmert Roberts: Emmert is a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the National Addiction Centre, King’s College London and a Consultant Addiction Psychiatrist at the South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. He is a National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) Advanced Fellow, a Senior Harkness Fellow at the Commonwealth Fund and the Clinical Lead of the National Program on Substance Use Mortality (NPSUM).

Authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Original article: Characteristics of drug-related deaths among individuals identified as LGBTQ+ in the United Kingdom, 1997–2024 https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70198

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