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Monica Barratt

NHMRC Post-Doc Research Fellow, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW
Dr Monica Barratt joined the Drug Policy Modelling Program at NDARC in 2014 after being awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council post-doctoral fellowship. Monica's research concerns the social and public health implications of internet technologies for people who use illicit and emerging psychoactive drugs, and the impacts of legislative responses to drug use and drug problems. Monica is particularly interested in how we respond to the emergence of new/novel drug trends and how these trends and responses are enabled by digital technologies. She specialises in engaging hard-to-reach networks and groups in digital spaces in conversations about research and policy. Through this engagement, Monica's work acts as a conduit between these groups and policy makers, and contributes to policy change.

Prior to her current appointment, Monica worked as a Research Fellow at the National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, where she also completed her postgraduate studies. She has also worked at Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre, the University of Melbourne, Deakin University and the Australian Drug Foundation.

Dark web, not dark alley: why drug sellers see the internet as a lucrative safe haven

Mar 05, 2020 05:07 am UTC| Technology

More than six years after the demise of Silk Road, the worlds first major drug cryptomarket, the dark web is still home to a thriving trade in illicit drugs. These markets host hundreds, or in some cases thousands, of...

The profile of festival drug takers might be different to what you expect

Jul 18, 2019 23:39 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

A NSW Coronial Inquest investigating a series of drug-related deaths at Australian music festivals has heard evidence of festival goers taking multiple concurrent doses of MDMA to avoid police detection and not receiving...

Testing festival goers' pills isn't the only way to reduce overdoses. Here's what else works

Jul 08, 2019 23:40 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

The NSW inquest into recent drug deaths at music festivals is due to start this week. So focus is turning to how to make music festivals safer by reducing drug-related incidents. We know that prohibition doesnt work to...

Instadrugs: new research reveals hidden dangers when young people use apps to buy illicit substances

Jan 27, 2019 14:52 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

Markets for illicit drugs are constantly evolving to increase profits and reduce risks to suppliers in response to law enforcement tactics. New technologies have been taken up with enthusiasm: from the use of pagers and...

Economy

Europe EV Demand Surges as Fuel Prices Rise Amid Iran Conflict

Rising fuel prices linked to the Iran conflict are accelerating demand for both new and used electric vehicles (EVs) across Europe, according to industry data shared with Reuters. While automakers are benefiting from...

German Industry Employment Falls to Lowest Level in a Decade

Germanys industrial sector recorded its lowest employment level in 10 years in 2025, with the number of workers dropping to just 6.6 million, according to a study by the German Economic Institute (IW). The findings...

Japan Signals Readiness to Intervene as USD/JPY Nears 161 Amid Yen Weakness

Japan has reaffirmed its readiness to act against excessive currency volatility as the Japanese yen continues to weaken against the U.S. dollar. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara stated on Thursday that the government...

Asian Currencies Stabilize as Dollar Holds Near Two-Month High After Fed Hawkish Signal

Asian currencies recovered modestly on Thursday after suffering steep losses in the previous session, while the U.S. dollar remained close to a two-month high following the Federal Reserves latest policy announcement. The...

Asian Stocks Rally as Japan and South Korea Reach Record Highs on US-Iran Peace Deal

Asian stock markets mostly advanced on Thursday, led by strong gains in Japan and South Korea after reports emerged that the United States and Iran had signed a framework agreement aimed at ending their nearly four-month...

Politics

Trump’s Iran Strategy: What Has Been Achieved After Three Months of Conflict?

More than three months after the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on February 28, President Donald Trumps objectives remain under scrutiny as a preliminary peace agreement moves toward finalization....

Russia and Ukraine Exchange Strikes After Zelenskiy-Trump Talks

Russia and Ukraine exchanged fresh attacks overnight, escalating tensions just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and...

South Korea’s Lee Jae Myung Strengthens Ties With Trump at G7 Summit, Discusses North Korea and Future Golf Meeting

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung emerged from the G7 summit with a symbolic gift from U.S. President Donald Trump and renewed momentum in South Korea-U.S. relations, following extensive discussions on North Korea,...

Trump-Iran Interim Agreement Extends Ceasefire as G7 Leaders Welcome Path to Peace

The United States and Iran have released the text of a newly signed interim agreement aimed at ending months of conflict, with U.S. President Donald Trump warning that military action could resume if Tehran fails to comply...

Trump Questions USMCA Renewal as Trade Talks Continue

U.S. President Donald Trump has cast doubt on the future of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), saying the United States could perform better without the North American trade pact, although he remains open...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Google Gemini Co-Lead Noam Shazeer Leaves for OpenAI Amid AI Talent Race

Noam Shazeer, a vice president of engineering at Google and one of the leaders behind the companys Gemini artificial intelligence models, has announced that he is leaving Google to join OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. The...

SK Hynix Shares Hit Record High After Shipping Next-Generation HBM4E AI Memory Samples

SK Hynix Inc. saw its shares surge to an all-time high on Thursday after announcing the shipment of samples of its latest high-bandwidth memory (HBM) product, reinforcing its position as a leading supplier in the rapidly...

Apple Signals Product Price Hikes Amid Rising Memory Chip Costs

Apple may soon increase prices across some of its products as rising memory and storage chip costs continue to pressure the consumer electronics industry. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Apple CEO Tim Cook...

Chinese Social Media Giant Xiaohongshu Eyes Hong Kong IPO at Over $70 Billion Valuation

Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, internationally known as RedNote, is reportedly preparing for a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) that could value the company at more than $70 billion. According to a Wall...

Samsung Gains Interest from BYD, Google, AMD as AI Chip Demand Strains TSMC Capacity

Samsung Electronics is attracting growing attention from major global technology companies as demand for advanced semiconductor manufacturing continues to exceed available capacity at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co....