[2] Founded in 1967, the aim of Release was to provide bail services to people arrested for drugs offences and to refer them to solicitors.
[1][3] In 1969 Harris and Coon summarised their early work in The Release Report on Drug Offenders and the Law, published by Sphere Books.
Release delivers legal community services, addressing homelessness, housing, welfare benefits and financial problems faced by the clients they work with and for, in a range of outreach settings, including homeless centres, drug treatment projects and sex work projects.
The organisation has produced research highlighting the disproportionate impact of drugs policing and laws have had on Black and ethnic minority communities in England and Wales.
[8] Release has a long history of association with the heart of London and has been based in various premises around Old Street since the 1980s, moving to the Aldgate area in 2018.