Labs to test illegal drugs for revellers
DRUG users will be able to test what they are taking at city centre drop-in centres.
Organisers hope that identifying dangerous substances will help cut the number of hospital cases and deaths during the party season.
They expect visitors to include middle- class recreational users of cocaine and ecstasy and other drugs as well as heroin, crack cocaine and synthetic cannabis addicts.
The scheme, which is being launched in central Bristol and Durham, follows a similar initiative at summer music festivals. Critics say the centres will simply offer a quality control service for drug dealers.
And David Raynes, of the National Drug Prevention Alliance, said it meant police would be turning a blind eye to offending. He added: ‘Some of this is a free testing service for dealers – it normalises drug taking and makes it more acceptable.
‘Those who have never taken drugs before may also be encouraged to take them for the first time feeling it is somehow safer. It gives the impression that if the drugs have been tested they are safe – but they are not, that is why they are illegal.’
The confidential drop-in sessions will be run by non- profit group The Loop. Individuals submit a pill or powder sample and within an hour are told what it contains.
Professor Fiona Measham, who founded the service, insisted it did not condone drug use and would help people who ‘are more vulnerable at Christmas’.
Drug deaths in Bristol, which was labelled the UK’s cocaine capital earlier this year, are at near record levels, with 113 recorded from 2015 to 2017. It also has one of the highest rates of crack cocaine use.
There were 140 drug-related deaths in Durham in the two years to 2017, compared with 90 from 2001 to 2003.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘This Government has no intention of decriminalising drugs.’
The first session will be held on Saturday in the Stokes Croft area of Bristol with more to follow in Durham’s historic marketplace.
‘More vulnerable at Christmas’