Your handy guide to snorting cocaine and popping Ecstasy pills

College hands out drug-taking advice to freshers

STUDENTS have been handed explicit advice on how to take cocaine and other deadly narcotics by their college.

The leaflet includes guidance not to share banknotes when inhaling the class A drug in case it spreads infections, and to use a nasal spray after a ‘session’.

Anyone tempted to take the potentially lethal narcotic is also advised to ensure the cocaine powder is ‘as fine as possible’ and warns: ‘If your nose is bleeding, take a break.’

Another section of the leaflet, handed out at a recent freshers’ fair at Ayrshire College, explains the need to drink plenty of fluid when taking Ecstasy.

Shocked students were also warned to avoid using plastic or rubber ‘bongs’ for smoking cannabis as these can give off toxic fumes.

Bosses at the college, which has campuses in Ayr, Kilmarnock and Kilwinning and a skills centre in Irvine, faced a backlash yesterday amid concerns they were effectively condoning illicit drug-taking.

However, they insisted they were simply being ‘proactive in tackling substance misuse’.

One unnamed student last night shared screenshots of the leaflet on Twitter with the caption: ‘Ayrshire College at its finest giving out tips on how to take Charlie [cocaine].’

Another Twitter user posted: ‘They’re meant to be anti-drugs yet dishing out all the tips.’

Others were so astonished by the leaflet’s message that they queried its authenticity, with one posting: ‘Is it really a college officially giving this out as public health info, or a clinic, or student group?’

One anti-drugs expert voiced deep concern at the stance taken by the college, fearing it could lead to an increase in drugs misuse.

Dr Neil McKeganey, director of the Centre for Substance Use Research in Glasgow, said: ‘I am staggered that an educational institution should be circulating these suggestions to students which, in effect, condone and normalise illegal drug use.

‘Health agencies can provide information on the dangers of drug use and the contact details of services students could contact should they get into difficulty as a result of using illegal drugs.

‘No educational setting should be advising students how they might use these dangerous and illegal drugs. What they do have a responsibility for is discouraging students from using these drugs, supporting those at risk of such drug use and providing access to student health services to those who get into difficulty as a result of their drug use.’

He added: ‘Ecstasy and cocaine are highly dangerous substances. The provision of information on how to use these drugs is wrong and the educational institution involved should desist from circulating such advice.’

A study in 2015 found that 4 per cent of Britons aged between 15 and 34 had taken cocaine in the past year, while almost 19 per cent of 16 to 19 year-olds had used illicit drugs during the same period.

Ayrshire College, which was founded in 2013 following a merger of three colleges, said students were provided with a range of information during freshers’ fairs designed to enhance their wellbeing, including about drug-taking.

A spokesman said: ‘Ayrshire College does not condone drug use and works in partnership with NHS Ayrshire and Arran on prevention and education.

‘[The college] is proactive in tackling substance misuse and promoting prevention. The college follows NHS Addiction Services approaches to providing information for the minority of people who choose to use drugs.

‘This leaflet is readily available in many public places, such as doctors’ surgeries, and other health and community settings.’

Alan Matthews, an educationalist with substance use charity substance.org.uk, which produced the leaflets, said: ‘We don’t want to encourage drug use but these leaflets shouldn’t be contentious, we need a dialogue. This is about trying to reduce the harm from substance use, it’s common sense.’

However, Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Douglas Ross said the leaflet’s explicit approach ran the risk of making drug use seem acceptable.

He added: ‘There is a fine line between educating about the use of drugs and promoting its use. This perhaps crosses that line.’