Dr Theo Di Castri

Theo received his MPhil and PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge and a BA with a double major in neuroscience and comparative literature from Columbia University. He is a co-founder of Colectivo Catalyst, a transnational educational initiative that seeks to reimagine drug education for a world beyond prohibition.

Theo’s research seeks to expand democratic participation in current debates around drugs, addiction and drug policy. His doctoral dissertation explored the contested trajectories of US social scientific research on the prevention of drug use, delinquency and mental illness from the 1950s to the present. His current research engages youth, teachers and parents in exploring how drug education can be expanded beyond its current focus on individual health to address the wider history and geopolitics of prohibition. Using a mix of historical and participatory action methods, Theo’s work considers how we might develop healthier relationships with psychoactive substances without defaulting to the punitive, stigmatising logics of the carceral/military state.