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[Key facts & advice]

How do you spot the signs that your or someone else's drug use is becoming a problem? What is harm reduction all about? What does drugs tolerance mean? And what should you do if you're with someone who may have overdosed? You'll find all the answers here, and lots of other key facts and advice to help you understand more about drug use and how to stay safe.

 

Harm reduction

When you're out with your friends, you might feel under pressure to take the drugs that they're taking - or maybe just curious to experiment with them. Remember that it's okay to set your own limits when it comes to drugs, so don't be persuaded to do something you don't want to. It's also important that you make sure you know what the risks are.

Harm reduction is all about reducing the risks of harm to you and to others. Here are some tips worth remembering:

  • Remember that all drugs can be harmful, including those bought over the counter.
  • If you've been using drugs with friends, make sure you always stay together.
  • Mixing drugs together or with alcohol is dangerous - you can easily overdose, have an increased risk of a bad experience or increased mental health problems.
  • Injecting is the most dangerous way to take a drug. It takes the drug straight into the bloodstream so it takes effect more quickly, but it can cause vein damage, ulcers and gangrene as well as spreading HIV and Hepatitis.
  • Try to recognise if your drug use is causing problems with your health, behaviour, relationships, school, work or with the law.
  • Know where to go if you're concerned about your own or someone else's drug use.

 

Recognising a problem

How do you know if your drug use is becoming a problem? It's not easy, but these are some of the signs you should look out for in yourself or someone else:

  • Are you using larger amounts of drugs and using more often?
  • Have you lost interest in hobbies or activities?
  • Are all your friends drug-using friends?
  • Do you need more and more of a drug to get an effect?
  • Are other people hinting that you may have a problem?
  • Do you get anxious or aggressive if you can't get any drugs?
  • Are you selling your possessions or stealing to pay for drugs?
  • Is your drug use causing you problems with school, college or home life?

If you're experiencing some or all of these signs, you may want to consider speaking to somebody about your use and get some support to cut down or stop.

 

How to get help

If you're worried about your use of drugs, or someone else's, you can talk to us in confidence at NORCAS. Call us on 01502 513444 or find your nearest NORCAS centre. You can also find out more about self-referrals.

We offer a range of free, confidential services - like one-to-one counselling, support groups and health checks - that can help you reduce an addiction, make positive changes and keep you safe. See our drugs services.

At NORCAS, we work using a 'harm reduction model'. This means that we help you to identify small achievable goals to enable you to reduce the risks associated with misusing drugs, alcohol or other substances. We give you the facts you need to help you make informed choices about your lifestyle.

 

Tolerance

The effects you get from any drug will be affected by:

  • How the drug is taken, the amount and strength of the dose
  • Your mood and expectation of what will happen
  • Your physical and mental health
  • The setting in which you take the drug

If you use drugs regularly you can build up a tolerance, which means that you need more of the same substance to produce the same effect. Any change or break in the way you use drugs will affect this. If you're unsure about your tolerance, use less of the drug to test the effect.

 

Overdose

How can you tell if someone has overdosed? Some of the signs include:

  • Pale colour with blue lips or fingernails
  • Difficult to wake up
  • Gurgling, snoring sounds
  • Shallow breathing
  • Slow or faint pulse.

If someone you are with has overdosed, here's what you should do:

  • First, call 999 and ask for an ambulance. (In Suffolk the police will not attend an overdose if you call an ambulance.)
  • Put them in the recovery position - this means getting the person on their side with their top leg bent at a right angle, checking their airway is clear and then tilting their head back to keep it clear.
  • Stay with them until medical help arrives.

 

Sexual health

Many drugs can affect your awareness of dangers that may be around you, which means that you're at a much greater risk of being vulnerable to sexual assault or rape. Drugs can also affect your judgement and decision making, which may result in you making choices that you wouldn't normally make.

If you're under the influence of a drug, there's a much higher chance that you would have unprotected sex resulting in an unwanted pregnancy and a higher risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections such as Chlamydia, herpes, gonorrhea and syphilis.

How drugs are taken will mean you're at a higher risk of blood-borne virus infections. For example, HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C can be contracted through injecting a drug, snorting a drug or having unprotected sex.

 

Drugs and the law

Under The Misuse of Drugs Act (1971) drugs are split into three classes - A, B & C. These are supposedly related to their potential harm. Any class 'B' drug that is prepared for injection becomes class 'A'.

Class Examples Maximum penalty for possession Maximum penalty for supply
A Opium, Heroin, Ecstasy, Methadone, Cocaine,
LSD, Magic Mushrooms, Methamphetamine		 7 years + fine Life + fine
B Codeine, Amphetamine, Barbiturates, Cannabis 5 years + fine 14 years + fine
C GHB, Benzodiazepines, Ketamine and other tranquillisers 2 years + fine 14 years + fine