Drug checking services should be provided in clubs, London Assembly's Health Committee says

A new report from London Assembly’s Health Committee has recommended the widespread use of drug checking services in clubs.

Published on 17th March, ‘Reducing Drug Deaths in London’ calls on Mayor Sadiq Khan to work with the government and police in order to adopt “new approaches focusing on harm-reduction methods,” developing a new strategy to implement at clubs, venues, and at music events.

“We heard that drug checking services, access to nasal naloxone, and drug consumption rooms can all play a role in reducing the impact of harmful drug use in London, and would help support some of the capital’s most vulnerable people to mitigate the risks associated with problematic drug use,” reads the report.

Naloxone spray is a prescription medicine used to treat and reverse a known or suspected opioid overdose.

The Committee’s investigation concentrates on three harm-reduction strategies – drug-checking services, naloxone, and DCRs (“professionally supervised healthcare facilities where people can consume their own drugs in a safe environment”) – which were all made following the success of trials in the UK and other parts of the world. 

The report makes seven recommendations, including asking the Mayor to work with the Metropolitan Police Service so that officers routinely carry nasal naloxone spray, as well as urging him to run a campaign with partners to educate Londoners about how to reduce drug harm and deaths. 

According to the report, the latest available statistics show that drug use deaths in England and Wales are at their highest level since records began, with 296 deaths in London and 2,996 deaths across England and Wales during 2020 alone.

Read our feature about the importance of drug harm minimisation in UK clubs.