Tips for safe use
The best way to avoid problems with drugs or alcohol is not to use them in the first place. However, we are all human and sometimes may succumb to the weaknesses of the flesh. Therefore rather than preaching abstinence to people who don't want to hear it but want to find things out for themselves, we have compiled a list of tips that can help to make using a little bit (but not completely) safer. These tips are not intended to replace the excellent and well informed advice that can be received from the professionals within the county (see the services page).
| Don't feel pressurised: using drugs/alcohol is a very personal experience, you do it for your own reasons, at your own risk and not for anyone else. Therefore be in charge of your own destiny, use only if YOU want to and only as much as YOU want to use. Don't be someone else's puppet! You have to know how far to take things and where to draw the line. |
| Don't do it on your own: when your using drugs/alcohol it's very easy to find yourself in a situation that you cannot handle on your own. You might fall down the stairs when stoned or have a bad reaction to the drug etc. In such situations it is always best to have someone there who can help you out if something goes wrong. Naturally, it is essential that this person is not out of their head as well! Similarly if you don't use but a friend does, be there for them just in case. |
| Do it in a safe place: sniffing glue on a railway embankment, near a busy road or on top of a tower block is not a good idea! When your on a high your judgement is impaired and you may possibly be having hallucinations. In such a state it is best to be in a place where you are unlikely to be harmed by your surroundings. |
| Know what you are taking: unfortunately illegal drugs don't come with the ingredients written on the side of the bag. Therefore you are trusting the word of the dealer about what he is selling you. Often such as heroin/coke are 'cut' with a variety of cheap powders to bulk up the product and the profits of the dealer. This includes things like talcum powder, baking soda, glucose etc. Apart from impurities this also means you don't know the dose your taking. Use a dealer that you know each time, don't shop around. If you notice effects that you have not experienced previously, it could mean you were given something you didn't ask for. |
| Be patient: often a drug takes a while after it enters you body before the effects can be felt. This depends on the route that you used (injecting, sniffing, smoking or eating), the drug itself and physiological factors. This period of no effect can vary from a few seconds to hours. It is very important therefore not to take a second dose during this initial 'calm before the storm' because otherwise you can very easily overdose when the effects actually hit. Sometimes you may not experience any effects at all, a lot of it depends on your mood prior to using and your expectations of the drug's effects. |
| Check that the drug does not disagree with you: everybody is different and their bodies react in different ways to drugs/alcohol. If you are trying a drug for the first time you can't predict what's going to happen to you by what you have read or how it affected your mates. There could be something about the drug that causes you to have a reaction to it. Sometimes such reactions can be very frightening or even fatal. Therefore if you are intent on using a particular drug try a little bit at first just to see what its like. |
| Don't mix drugs: mixing certain drugs could just cancel out each others effects, so all that you get out of it is a waste of your money. In other cases the effects can be multiplied so that your body can't cope with the overload. Thirdly, the effects can be unpredictable because the ingredients themselves are unknown. These last two situations can be very dangerous indeed. Even taking illegal drugs at the same time as your legally prescribed medicine can result in bad/fatal reactions. Drugs and drink are another bad combination for example drinking alcohol at the same time as taking Ecstasy can lead to rapid dehydration. |
| If injecting: make sure that you don't share your works with anyone else because you can get blood-borne diseases such as HIV/AIDS or hepatitis. Use clean, sterilised works to avoid problems (you can get these from needle exchanges). Make sure you know how to inject, even air bubbles can kill. Inject into veins not arteries. Injection is probably the least safest way of taking drugs and it would be wiser to use a different method. Finally, dispose of your needle safely after you have finished, because it can easily prick children, pets and refuse workers. Ideally return all used needles to the needle exchange which relies on people doing this to maintain its continued success. |
| Don't take drugs and drive: this is true for the operation of any machinery. Drugs/alcohol impair your judgement and make you a danger not only to yourself but to others around you. The effects can linger in your system for hours after you have stopped using, even if you feel completely normal. |
| If taking Ecstasy: ecstasy gives you rush of energy so you feel like you can dance all night long. However, ecstasy also acts to increase your body temperature in addition to the hot and humid environment of night clubs and the effects of your John Travolta impressions. This can cause dehydration of the body and is made even worse if you have been drinking alcohol which also has a dehydrating effect. This is the main risk from ecstasy use. To avoid heat exhaustion and dehydration it is vital to take a reasonable amount of non-alcoholic fluid when on ecstasy. A pint of fluid per hour is recommended, there can be problems with more than or less than this amount. Energy drinks that replace the salts and minerals lost in your sweat are also a very good thing to drink. Light and loose fitting clothing will allow the skin to breathe when your 'strutting your stuff' on the dance floor. |
| Carry a condom: when your stoned you are likely to shag anything that moves, with little regard for the consequences. Carrying condoms with you will avoid the risk of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. When people are on drugs or drunk safe sex is not the first thing that they think about, but having condoms in your pocket may just jog your memory. |
| DON'T PANIC: if you feel you are getting in over your head with drugs or alcohol , you don't have to suffer in silence. The drug services listed in this website will provide you with free and confidential advice on what help they can give you, how to use drugs/alcohol more safely and give you new needles/condoms. |
If you have any tips on safe drug use that you wish to share with other users please e-mail them to me an I will update this page with them.
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Last updated January 2001
