With an undergraduate degree in American Studies and Geography, David received his doctorate on “The United States and International Drug Control” from the University of Wales in 1996.  He was appointed as a lecturer at Swansea University in 2000 and has been a visiting lecturer at a number of Universities in the US, including the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. In the spring of 2006, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Australian Health Policy Institute at the University of Sydney.  David is currently on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Drug Policy and the Human Rights Journal.  He is also member of the International Advisory Committee of the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug policy and a technical Advisor to the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy.

Current Research

David is currently engaged in a number of projects relating to various aspects of drug policy.  He is completing a major research monograph provisionally titled ‘Towards a Drug Free World? International Drug Control, 1998-2009.’ The J. Paul Getty Jr. Charitable Trust funded the latter stages of this project.  David is also working on the issue of policy transfer in relation to drug control policies in both Colombia and Afghanistan.

Selected Recent Publications

• (2010) With Christopher Hallam, Editorial, “Mapping the world drug problem: Science and Politics in the United Nations drug control system,” The International Journal of Drug Policy, Volume 21, Issue 1, 2010, pp. 1-3. ISSN: 0955-3959 (link)
• (2009) “The 2009 Commission on Narcotic Drugs and its High Level Segment; more cracks in the Vienna consensus,” Drugs and Alcohol Today (Pavilon), Vol. 9, Issue 2, June 2009, pp. 7-11 (link).
• (2008) With Peter Reuter and Martin Elvins, Editors’ Introduction: Rethinking Drug Markets and Societal Reactions to Them: Contributions in Drug Policy Research, Contemporary Drug Problems; An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, Vol. 35, Nos. 2 & 3, Summer-Fall 2008
• (2008) 'Crack in the Lens: Hollywood, the CIA and the African-American Response to the "Dark Alliance" series,' Intelligance and National Security, Volume 23, Number 1, February 2008, pp. 81-103 (link).
• (2007) With Martin Jelsma, 'The War on Drugs: Illicit Drugs as a Moral Evil and Useful Enemy' in Selling US Wars, (Olive Branch Press, an imprint of Interlink Publishers, 2007). Published in India as Masks of Empire (Tulika Books, 2007).

Selected research awards, fellowships, & prizes

• 2007 J. Paul Getty Jr. Charitable Trust, Research Grant (£32,021)
• 2005 Leverhulme Research Fellowship. (Oct 2005- Oct 2006) (£21,853)
• 2004 University of Wales Swansea Distinguished Teaching Award
• 2004 Elsevier International Journal of Drug Policy Young Writer of the Year Award

PhD/MPhil  Supervision

David currently supervises students exploring a range of topics including American cultural identities and representations in post 9/11 television fictions and various aspects of international drug control policy.  Enquiries are welcome from strong candidates interested in any of his research areas.

Administrative Duties

Department: Member of PCS Programme Coordinating Committee.
College of Arts and Humanities: International College Wales Swansea (ICWS) student coordinator.
College of Arts and Humanities: Member of Internationalization Strategy Group