The NHS recommends speaking to a GP as a starting point. However, beyond a GP, there are also places to go for help.
A range of charities offer support. These include Cranstoun, Via, and Change Grow Live. A detailed list can be found here. Local drug treatment services can be contacted directly – Frank has a tool on its website here.
If you are in contact with somebody offering you help for one reason, they will usually be able to direct you to more specific help. For example, homelessness services can direct you to drug treatment services.
Testing is available
When buying drugs on the street, it is impossible to know for sure what’s being sold. But it is possible to test drugs to get a better idea of their contents.
The Loop in Bristol offers a drug checking service. Members of the public can submit a substance, and then return to find the results and receive a harm reduction consultation. The sessions are held on the last Saturday of every month, and more information can be found here.
Wedinos, based in Wales, also tests substances. These are anonymously sent in by the post, from across the UK. More information on the do’s and dont’s can be found on the Wedinos website.
Local drug services may also supply test strips which can specifically test for nitazenes – but these are not as accurate or reliable as lab tests.
Submitting drugs for testing not only helps keep users safe, but helps build a picture of what is in circulation.
Carry naloxone
Naloxone, which is carried by paramedics and some police forces, helps reverse the effects of an opiaite overdose. It is available as an epipen-like injection, but also as an easy-to-use nasal spray.
Experts say this is a critical tool for keeping people safe. “The main harm reduction advice is to always have a naloxone kit. Naloxone saves lives,” said Helen Boland, team leader for the rough sleepers and homelessness service in Birmingham
For those who haven’t overdosed on opiaites, naloxone has no effect. So experts say there is no need to hold back simply because you do not know for sure what somebody has taken.
It is easy to get hold of naloxone. Local drug services will provide naloxone, as well as training on how to use it – which can take just 10 minutes. Community pharmacies can also supply naloxone.
While it is crucial for those regularly taking drugs, or around those who do, experts also say anybody can help by carring it.
“If I was working in the middle of Birmingham, to walk from the train station to the office, I might come across a drug overdose, and I’d want to be prepared to kind of help and support at that point. Carrying naloxone is a real way anyone can help in that circumstance,” said Meg Jones, who works as director for new business and service for the charity Cranstoun.
Go low and go slow
This especially goes for anybody with a new stash, experts say: consuming a small amount at first can be an effective early warning system.
However, while this may help, the potency of nitazenes – which have never been approved for human consumption – means danger is still present.
“These compounds are so potent, even the smallest amount can prove fatal, so even by going slow that’s not enough to protect yourself potentially from fatal overdose,” said Caroline Copeland, a scientist at King’s College London who runs a national database of substance use deaths.
Don’t consume alone – and try to have somebody sober with you
If you are alone and you overdose, there will likely be nobody to raise the alarm. So if possible, make sure there is somebody with you.
For those consuming alone, Cranstoun runs an app called BuddyUp. This pairs those taking drugs with volunteers who can raise the alarm and trigger a rescue plan being sent to the authorities.
“It basically means that if someone is using drugs alone, they can connect with one of our volunteers, and if they become unresponsive whilst they’re on there, we can send emergency services to them,” said Jones.
A new safe drugs consumption room is set to open in Glasgow at the end of October 2024, providing drug users with a safe space to take their drugs under supervision.
If possible, try to make sure somebody in your group is not using at the same time. If a group has all taken the same thing, and it induces an overdose, they will all likely be in the same boat. But if somebody has stayed sober – think of a “trip sitter” – then they will be able to get help.
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