Nightclubs to Offer Free Testing on Class A drugs
Nightclubs in Preston plan to offer free testing of Class A drugs to ensure the substances are pure.
This is due to drug deaths being at an all-time-high and the likelihood is that they will continue to rise. The number of people dying from drug misuse soared in 2014, and the overwhelming majority of drug-related deaths are caused by accidental poisoning.
The testing will be done in walk-in booths, run by a charity. Their aim is to reduce drug-related deaths from accidental poisoning by checking that cocaine and MDMA are pure, not cut with some other substance or unusually potent.
It is reported that Lancashire police are backing the scheme, which will operate on Friday and Saturday nights from the beginning of next year.
There are mixed views on the idea, the positive being the intention to cut down on drug-related deaths; the negative being the normalizing of drug use.
Those on board feel that it is a pragmatic way of dealing with the drug problem, and that the numbers harmed by drugs could be radically diminished and that the idea is not to encourage drug use.
Critics argue that no drug is ever truly safe, particularly those classified as Class A drugs and that it seems that police are advocating and facilitating drug use.
Whatever your stand on this particular scheme, it is certainly an interesting new development, and one to watch for further development.
What won’t change, though, is that drugs are dangerous as they are, unusually cut, potent or not. We must keep working at drug education and rehabilitation, so less and less people feel the need to take these drugs in the first place.
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