Clubbing & Drugs: Essential Harm Reduction Tips for a safer night out
Our clubbing resource offers practical harm reduction advice for using alcohol and other drugs in club environments. Learn to recognise risks and apply simple strategies, ensuring a more enjoyable and safer clubbing experience.
Clubbing and drugs
The UK has a vibrant nightlife scene attracting a diverse range of clubbers using an increasing range of illegal drugs.
With new and different drugs popping up all the time, it’s essential to be extra careful. Drugs can affect you differently depending on what they are, where you are, and how you’re feeling. Some speed you up, some slow you down, and some get you as far off your head as possible. However, there are risks involved in using any drug.
This booklet will help guide you through some of the potential risks of a night or weekend clubbing and provide tips on reducing the risks and staying as safe as possible.
DRUGS
This section contains information on the most commonly used club drugs, split into three categories based on their effects – uppers, spaced and downers.
But remember, the effects of drugs can vary depending on how much you have taken, what is actually in the drugs, and any other drugs you may have taken.
Pill testing kits
Pill testing kits should be viewed with caution. Although they can detect certain chemicals, they cannot tell you how much of the chemical is in the pill (dose), or what other drugs may be in there. Just because a pill tests positive for the chemical you were hoping for, it does not make it safe.
Snort it or eat it?
Snorting drugs will cause the effects to start within a very short time and with a higher intensity, but wear off relatively quickly. Eating your drugs, pills or powder, means the effects will come on much slower and steadier, but last for a longer period with much less of a crash at the end.
Passing around notes or straws for snorting drugs can pass around germs like hepatitis and other blood-borne viruses. Keep your nostrils healthy by flushing out your nose with clean water at the end of each session.
UPPERS
Ecstasy - MDMA
Ecstasy strength
Cocaine
Speed (Amphetamine)
Methamphetamine
SPACED
Cannabis
Mushrooms
Ketamine
Caution:
- Ketamine can further damage the liver of anyone using protease inhibitors to treat HIV or Hepatitis.
- Ketamine has been linked to bladder problems. Symptoms include an increased need to urinate, pain when doing so and passing blood.
- Long-term users can suffer from abdominal pain know as ‘K-Cramps.
Downers
Alcohol
Benzodiazepines
(Valium, Mogadon, Librium, etc.)GHB & GBL
Caution
- Those on HIV or hepatitis meds should seek specialist advice before using GHB or GBL.
- Never swallow GBL undiluted, it will burn your mouth/throat.
New Psychoactive Substances
Mephedrone (and all Cathinone derivatives)
Mexxy
MDPV, NRG1 (and Pyrovalerone derivatives)
SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS (Spice)
NITROUS OXIDE (Noz, noxy)
CAUTION:
Caution: Use drugs cautiously: start with low doses and increase slowly because everyone’s tolerance is different. Pills or powders may not be what you think they are. Wait for the drug to take effect before taking more to prevent overdose.
Remember: you can’t be certain of the content, strength and purity of illegal drugs, even from trusted sources. Do your homework and research any new drugs before taking them.
New, and updated resources
BEFORE THE CLUB
Pre-club drinks
Mixing alcohol with drugs is dangerous. If you must drink, try and stick to drinks with a low percentage of alcohol. Avoid the high-strength lagers, shots and spirits. Alternate your drinks with soft drinks, fruit juice or lemonade.
Drugs and the law
Under a new law, all psychoactive substances (i.e. drugs) are illegal - apart from alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine. So if it doesn’t look like booze, fags, or coffee, the police can pull you. So is picking up drugs for yourself and your mates to share. If you are stopped by the police and tell them the drugs are for you and your mates, that would be considered possession with intent to supply, a very serious offence.
If you are in a car in which the police find drugs and no one claims ownership, everyone in the car could be charged with possession or supply.
On the door
Many clubs insist on a search. You can refuse, but the club also has the right to refuse you entry.
Only the outside of clothes, pockets and bags can be searched. The search must be conducted by a member of staff of the same sex. They cannot search inside clothes without your permission and can never conduct intimate searches, such as inside underwear or strip-searches.
Necking all your drugs at once to get around the search is dangerous, you could also still be standing in the queue when your drugs start to come up. Make sure you bring some warm clothes for waiting in the queue and for going home.
Don’t buy drugs in the club. You can’t be sure what you are buying in a dark club if you are off your face.
IN THE CLUB
Look after each other
Know what drugs your mates have taken so you can tell the medical staff if they are taken ill. If anyone starts to have a bad trip, take them somewhere quiet and reassure them it’s just the effects of the drugs and the feelings will wear off.
Don’t let a friend leave with strangers. Try to find out who they are and where they are going first.
Getting caught with drugs in the club
Any club that allows its premises to be used for the consumption of drugs can be closed down. So it’s unsurprising they keep a close eye on what’s happening inside. Openly snorting powders and necking tablets aren’t good looks.
If you are lucky, you will only have your drugs confiscated and have a very long wait outside the club for your mates to come out, rather than being reported to the police and ending up with a criminal record.
Uppers and heatstroke (Hyperthermia)
Uppers can raise your body temperature and decrease the release of heat by constricting blood vessels near the skin, combined with physical exertion it can cause your body to overheat. If it reaches extreme levels it can permanently damage your organs or prove fatal.
Signs of heatstroke are:
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Hot dry skin
- Nausea (this can also be caused by your drugs starting to kick in)
If you start to feel ill stop what you are doing, get some fluids and take some time out. Go to the chillout area and try and get some fresh air. If the symptoms don’t improve, get medical help straight away.
Water Intoxication (hyponatraemia)
While it is important not to become dehydrated when out clubbing, taking on too much fluid can also cause its own problems. It can upset the balance of sodium in your body and cause your brain to swell, which is extremely dangerous.
You should try to sip about a pint of fluid an hour. Try to include some fruit juice or Isotonic sports drinks.
Mixing drugs
Mixing drugs is dangerous as the effects of the two drugs together are unpredictable. Your body can only process so much at once. Putting extra pressure on it by asking it to do too much can lead to a dangerous build-up of drug levels in your body which could have serious consequences. If you drink alcohol and take cocaine, your body produces a third substance called Cocaethylene. This is highly toxic and can cause heart problems.
Mixing alcohol or prescription drugs with illegal drugs is asking for trouble.
Those on HIV or hepatitis meds should seek specialist advice before using GHB/GBL or Ketamine. They can cause serious interactions with prescribed medication.
AFTER THE CLUB
Driving home
It’s simple – DON’T DRIVE IF YOU HAVE BEEN TAKING DRUGS! They affect your vision, coordination, concentration, perception and spatial awareness, and reaction times. You will be affected for a long time after you have taken drugs.
It’s illegal to drive if either:
- you’re unfit to do so because you’re on legal or illegal drugs
- you have certain levels of illegal drugs in your blood (even if they haven’t affected your driving)
The police can stop you and use a roadside drug kit if they think you’ve been using drugs. If convicted, the penalties are:
- a minimum 1-year driving ban
- an unlimited fine
- up to 6 months in prison
- a criminal record
Your driving licence will also show you’ve been convicted of drug driving. This will last for 11 years
Sex and ED (erectile dysfunction) Drugs
Some drugs give you a loved-up feeling and increase sexual desire, but they can also make it difficult to get an erection. Some of you may consider using ED drugs to try and overcome this. But combining uppers (ecstasy, speed or cocaine) with ED drugs can have an increased effect on body temperature, blood pressure and heart rate. Using Poppers with ED drugs can also compromise your immune system, increasing the risk of sexually transmitted infections. Poppers are dangerous for anyone with chest or heart problems, anaemia or glaucoma.
ED drug’s ability to prolong sex increases the risk of breaks in the skin, increasing the risk of passing on sexually transmitted infections. Always carry condoms and use them.
Handling the come-down
The best way to ensure a bad come-down is to take more drugs or drink alcohol. You won’t get any higher, but you will regret it later on. Taking downers to ease the landing will only put off the inevitable for a few hours.
When you get back from the club, try to resist the temptation to keep the party going by taking more drugs. Treat it as a different part of the experience. This is the best time of the night. Relax. Change into fresh, loose-fitting clothes. Turn the lights down low. Put on some chilled tunes. Get a cup of tea - the best come-down drug there is! Crash on the sofa and chat with your friends. Chill out.
Look after yourself
If you enjoy clubbing and want to continue doing it, be good to yourself. Don’t drink or do drugs throughout the week. Get plenty of rest and sleep. Eat well. A healthy, balanced diet throughout the week is like putting money in the bank to spend at the weekend. Stay fit. Working out, walking, swimming, or any sport will strengthen your heart and lungs and improve your mental wellbeing.
Keep clubbing as a special weekend treat; don’t let it take over your life. The more varied social life you have outside the club nights will make those sessions all the more enjoyable. Clubbing can be fun, but it’s not the top and bottom of everything. Enjoy life. The more you have going on in your life, the more special your night’s clubbing will become.
OVERDOSE
Using any drug carries risk. These risks increase if you are mixing drugs or combining them with alcohol, and can result in an overdose. This can still happen even sometime after you have taken the drugs.
The symptoms for people who are overdosing on uppers or downers are different but some people can display symptoms of both.
OVERDOSE SYMPTOMS CAN INCLUDE
- Uppers - Chest pain or tightness, shortness of breath, hot to the touch and red in the face, sudden collapse.
- Downers - Looks pale, blue lips, shortness of breath, sudden collapse, not waking in response to stimuli, snoring deeply (this is a sign of difficulty breathing, not deep sleep).
If this happens in a club, take them to a cool quiet place and get help straight away, most clubs will have a designated first aider who will help them until an ambulance arrives.
If it happens away from the club, put them in the recovery position and call an ambulance, you do not have to give your name, and the police have a policy of not attending overdose calls, unless there is any danger to the medical staff, a death, or child safety issues.
Always tell the medical staff who attend what drugs they have taken, and if possible give samples to the medical staff this could save someone's life.
