Rate My Professor Chris Wilkins

Professor Chris Wilkins is a Professor of Policy and Health at Massey University in the College of Health. He leads the drug research team at the SHORE & Whāriki Research Centre. Professor Wilkins holds an MMS and a PhD and has research expertise in drug trends, drug markets, public health, and drug policy. Over the past twenty years he has completed a range of studies of drug use in New Zealand with particular focus on methamphetamine, cannabis, legal highs, ecstasy and the non-medical use of pharmaceuticals. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles on drug use and drug markets, contributed to three books and regularly reviews manuscripts for Addiction, the International Journal of Drug Policy, Drug & Alcohol Review and Drug and Alcohol Dependence. In 2020 he co-edited the book Legalizing Cannabis: Experiences, Lessons and Scenarios with Professor Tom Decorte and Professor Simon Lenton. Professor Wilkins has been an invited speaker at international meetings convened by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and at the United States National Institute on Drug Abuse Community Epidemiology Working Group. He regularly presents papers at the annual meetings of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy. His research interests include illegal drugs, cannabis, methamphetamine, legal highs, synthetic cannabinoids, organised crime, cannabis law reform and drug policy. He has led or contributed to multiple research projects funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and the Royal Society of New Zealand on topics such as cannabis policy reform, regulating retail vaping and the impact of online illegal drug markets.

Professor Wilkins continues to advance understanding of drug policy and health through ongoing studies and international collaborations focused on emerging drug trends and regulatory approaches in New Zealand and abroad.