Training

This course introduces delegates to the landscape of both unregulated and licensed drugs, drawing on the latest evidence about current drug markets and trends. Utilising ‘The Drugs Wheel’ to explore how different drug categories vary in their effects and risks; examining drugs commonly used ‘recreationally’ such as cocaine, MDMA and ketamine in depth, covering desired effects, associated risks and harms and basic harm reduction strategies.

This course begins by covering the Drugs Awareness course content and then progresses to the legislation surrounding drugs in the UK, individualised & organisational harm reduction measures, as well as the role of your staff in reducing the risk of people coming to drug-related harm. The course finishes with a case study which works through the considerations for your organisation in responding to a drug-related incident. This course can also be adapted to look at specific considerations for the outdoor events industry, including music festivals.

This course takes an evidence-based look at the topic of drink spiking and wider links between alcohol, other drug use and sexual violence. The course looks at the data on spiking, including the limitations of the current evidence base. It also considers the main drugs associated with spiking, such as alcohol, GHB/GBL, benzodiazepines and ketamine. Finally, the course looks at the role of the media and societal factors in some of the reported cases in recent years.

Over the years, The Loop has issued numerous drug alerts across social media and led multiple drug safety and harm reduction campaigns in the national press. Communicating drug‑related information is a careful and complex task - small wording errors or missing details can unintentionally increase risk. This course guides delegates through the key considerations involved in crafting effective drug alerts and safety messages. It is designed for practitioners and organisations with an existing understanding of drug use who may need to issue drug alerts or risk communications to people who use drugs. This course also considers the impact of the implementation of the Online Safety Act 2023 for communications related to drugs. 

This half‑day course provides an up‑to‑date overview of current drug market trends, including the latest evidence on price, purity and prevalence of commonly used substances. Informed by The Loop’s festival and event-based testing, alongside public -facing and community-based drug checking, the course equips participants with clear, evidence‑based insight into how UK drug markets are evolving. 

Content covers key trends and patterns over the past 20 years, prevalence and mortality data, and the most recent findings from drug checking/testing services. Participants will also explore mis‑sales, adulteration and strength related to emerging risks, including synthetic opioids, high strength MDMA pills and any other notable developments.

This course introduces participants to sexualised drug use before delving deeper into Chemsex; exploring the social and cultural sensitivities and the drugs most commonly used. It examines associated behaviours, effects and risks, and provides practical harm reduction approaches to support people who participate in chemsex, including strategies to reduce both drug related harms and wider vulnerabilities or risk.

This comprehensive course on ketamine delves into its journey from a medical anaesthetic to a prominent recreational substance. The course will cover the economics of the drug, purity, adulterants, and the broader drug market. This includes its history, including ketamine’s unique place in the ‘free party’ and festival scenes, and explores its potential evolving role in mental health treatment. Gain a thorough understanding of ketamine’s effects and risks, both acute and chronic, such as ‘k-cramps’ and ketamine-induced cystitis. Lastly, the course will emphasise harm reduction practices, offering practical strategies for both users and event organisers in environments where ketamine is used.

This course explores the rapidly evolving landscape of novel synthetic opioids and other emerging compounds designed to equip with the most current, evidence‐based knowledge. We trace the development of substances such as nitazenes, orphines, medetomidine, xylazine and other newly identified compounds of concern, examining how they have entered and reshaped the UK and international drug markets.

You’ll gain an up-to-date insight into availability, potency, trends, alerts and patterns of use, alongside a clear understanding of their effects, risks and associated harms.

The course also provides practical harm reduction approaches tailored to these substances,

including overdose prevention and other possible response strategies, 

ensuring participants leave with the confidence to action informed interventions.

This is an intensive two-day course for up to 10 people which is delivered by two trainers.

Day 1 delivers the one-day course “Responding to Drug Use in the Nighttime Economy” (as above) and Day 2 looks at how participants can successfully deliver that course to their own teams, covering issues such as: 

• aims and learning outcomes 

• the importance of learning styles and their impact in terms of training delivery 

• the range of training methods to support delivery 

• how to deal with ‘“difficult’ delegates with challenging behaviours. 

In the afternoon of the second day delegates are supported to deliver a short session of their own with constructive verbal and written feedback from both trainers. 

Please note: the course delivered on Day 1 can differ and dependent on the focus, setting or organisation.