jonleighton

I founded and run the think-and-do tank Organisation for the Prevention of Intense Suffering (OPIS). We've been focused on improving access to controlled substances (morphine and psychedelics) for the effective treatment of severe pain (terminal cancer and cluster headaches, respectively) and, to a lesser extent through postings and talks, on ending factory farming. Our larger goal and where we are putting more of our efforts is in promoting compassionate ethics in governmental decision-making to prioritise the prevention of intense suffering. I'm the author of two books on ethics, The Tango of Ethics: Intuition, Rationality and the Prevention of Suffering (2023) and The Battle for Compassion: Ethics in an Apathetic Universe (2011), and of OPIS's publication Compassionate Governance: A Strategic Guide to Preventing and Alleviating Global Suffering (2025). I'm based in Switzerland and spend much of my time in Athens. My background is in molecular biological research.