‘Let me take you to Columbia,’ said Sanho Tree, fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and a director of its Drug Policy Project. ‘Here farmers grow coca because it makes economic sense to them,’ he said. ‘They don’t stand a chance of growing other crops and coca is one crop that doesn’t require much infrastructure.’ Yet the government had been trying to eradicate coca for decades, primarily through crop dusters – aircraft that sprayed the area with a potent form of Roundup, a herbicide that caused rashes, vomiting and illness as well as the death of crops and animals.

We’d like to thank everyone who made HIT Hot Topics such an amazing event, especially our speakers and our conference attendees. As you can see from our gallery your passion shows through.

Our annual Cavern Club charity event is where the HIT team finally get to relax and enjoy ourselves. Always featuring the Sensational HIT Soul Band and one or two other invited bands, this is a night of music in one of the most famous venues in the world. We know that for many people who come to our conference each year this is the highlight of the events!

HIT’s Harm Reduction Cafés are a major part of our conferences. The café event is held the night before the conference with people attending from all around the world to catch up with friends, network, chat and most importantly enjoy themselves.

For the first time the HIT Hot Topics conference is going to be at the wonderful Bluecoat. Bluecoat is officially Liverpool city centre’s oldest building and the charm and character of it is undeniable. As the UK’s first Centre for the Contemporary Arts, they offer a unique mix of the old and the new and have a number of indoor and outdoor spaces we’ll have access to.

With the launch of our 2019 HIT Hot Topics Conference website we want to announce a very exciting speaker. We are thrilled to announce that Sanho Tree will be speaking at this year’s conference.