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Share your story!

We're looking for Scottish young people to share their experiences with benzos – click here to get involved.

Who are we?

The Benzo Research Project (BRP) is a young people-led small charity which seeks to understand and improve the lives of young people who take benzodiazepines across the UK through research, policy advocacy, and advancing harm reduction education and support provision.

Although from over 30 different nationalities and interdisciplinary backgrounds, we share the desire to improve the lives of young people who take benzodiazepines. Several of our members are past and present volunteers with Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP). Since July 2021, we have invested over 5,000 hours voluntarily into this project.​

What are our aims?


In 2022, we collected over 80 anonymous testimonies through our story-sharing platform hosted by our partner Drugs and Me. Testimonies were analysed to provide a clearer picture of young people's lived experiences with benzos, which is detailed in our 2022 report. These experiences continue to direct our outreach and harm reduction work.

In December 2025, we launched a follow-up study focusing on platforming the voices of young people in Scotland who take benzos.


Since starting this project, we have formed eight key partnerships with stakeholders and organisations relevant to our cause. Knowledge sharing is crucial to improving local services and emerging issues. We also want to build social media relationships to help grow each others' accounts and share information.

We have worked with drug support services such as Crew2000 and NHS Inclusion to develop their support and staff training, delivered community outreach in Tower Hamlets and evidence briefings to government with the London Harm Reduction Collective, and hosted two hybrid, live-streamed event at King's College London and Imperial College London.


We believe that the growing benzo problem in the UK is under-reported, and young people's voices and experiences aren’t heard in the conversation. We advocate for journalists to write articles that are informed by lived experiences, are unbiased and non-judgemental, so as to not demonise people who use drugs. Public opinion is a significant factor in UK drug policy decisions, making the media an important frontier for driving positive change.


Our social media team shares harm reduction and policy-related information on Instagram (@benzoresearchproject), Twitter (@benzoresearch), and TikTok (@benzoresearchproject). We have reached over 60,000 unique Instagram accounts, demonstrating demand for evidence-based harm reduction content tailored to young people.

Seven volunteer members of the Benzo Research Project wearing smart attire sat in a line underneath a projector screen in a lecture theatre. Our Founder stood to the right at the podium presenting to the audience about the project's aims, as shown on the screen.
Our volunteer team leads presenting at the BRP Report Launch & Drug Policy Debate event – December 2022. Photo by Nathan Frank.

Facts and figures

In 2024, over 1200 benzo-related deaths were recorded in Britain: 629 people in England and Wales, and 574 people in Scotland.
​– Office for National Statistics, 2025; National Records of Scotland, 2025.
A YouTube thumbnail with the founder Monica wearing a white shirt and brown hair flowing down her shoulder, in front of a picture of the UN CND wood-panelled hall with people sat in semi circles. On the left, there is a big graphic reading United Nations Statement.
In 2022, 2.2 million young people who experienced challenges with drug use did not access any support in the UK.
​– The Mix, 2022.
Greyscale photo taken at HIT Hot Topics 2025 of a quote from BRP's 2022 research which reads: All of us had either ADHD, depression, anxiety, autism, PTSD, or all of the above and more. The only thing we had in common was seeking drugs as a coping strategy.
Photo by Nigel Brunsdon, HIT Hot Topics 2025.
Our previous work found young people took non-prescription benzos to manage mental health difficulties, to cope with life changes and the COVID-19 pandemic, to enhance the effects of alcohol, or to counteract stimulants and psychedelics.
– Bright, Martin, Mori, and Richards, 2022. 
29.3% of those having taken a benzo or Z-drug under medical instruction have also used the same drug non-medically.
​– Kapil et al., 2014.
Read the testimonies we received here.