For BDP, 2020 has been a year of both doing things differently and doing different things to make sure that we continued to support people experiencing problems with alcohol and drugs against the harsh reality of Covid-19.
Doing things differently –we moved our support out of buildings; through expanded street outreach; by supporting people who were rough sleeping moving into hotels as part of ‘Everyone In’ with our range of services, including innovative alcohol detoxes and Blood-borne Virus testing; by risk assessing 1900 people in 42 GP Practices to ensure that the changes to methadone/buprenorphine dispensing to support self-isolation were safe; and by making socially distanced home visits to our most vulnerable service users, children and young people and our older population, now almost 1 in 10 of the adults we see are aged over 55.
Doing different things – we designed & distributed 1,544 Distraction Activity packs to help people to self-isolate; delivered medication to people shielding, isolating or ill; launched New Leaf to support young people who identify their cannabis use as problematic; and, in the absence of a night-time economy and festivals, ran the ‘All about Drugs’ campaign with Bristol University and Bristol SU, providing reagent drug testing kits to students as part of a brief harm reduction intervention.
As BDP moves into our 35th year, it is clear that the challenges presented by Covid-19 for the people we support, and for our staff and volunteers, will continue well into 2021. As ever, we will draw on the expertise of our magnificent staff and volunteers, our deep roots in Bristol’s communities, our creativity and our resilience to make sure that the support we provide to people experiencing problems with alcohol or drugs, who are some of Bristol’s most vulnerable citizens, living in some of our City’s most vulnerable families, is the very best it can be.
Listen to our Recovery Orchestra perform a beautiful medley of songs recorded at their Christmas performance.
After a period of making music by zoom, our Recovery Orchestra has been meeting face to face this autumn culminating in this lovely Christmas Medley, reminding us of the joy of making music together. In this recording, the Orchestra is joined by 4 members of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra – thank you all so much.
We are enormously grateful to the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for continuing to sponsor our wonderful conductor Jon James. We are delighted that this will continue into 2021. Seasonal best wishes to all our musicians, their families and friends.
Here’s when the advice centre and helpline will be opening over the Christmas period:
Monday 21st
9:00am – 5:00pm
Tuesday 22nd
9:00am – 5:00pm
Wednesday 23rd
9:00am – 5:00pm
Thursday 24th
9:00am – 5:00pm
Friday 25th (Christmas Day)
Closed
Saturday 26th (Boxing Day)
Closed
Sunday 27th
Closed
Monday 28th (Bank Holiday)
Closed
Tuesday 29th
9:00am – 5:00pm
Wednesday 30th
9:00am – 5:00pm
Thursday 31st (New Years Eve)
9:00am – 5:00pm
Friday 1st (New Years Day)
Closed
Saturday 2nd
9:30am – 1:00pm
We will be back to normal opening times from Monday 4th onwards:
Monday – Friday 9:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday 9:30am – 1:00pm
August the 31st is International Overdose Awareness Day – a global event that aims to raise awareness about drug overdoses. Whilst most people who use recreational drugs will never experience or see a drug overdose, it’s really important to know what to do in these situations – you could save a life. This blog will explain the signs of overdose from different types of drugs and what to do in an emergency.
Signs of Overdose
Stimulants (MDMA, cocaine, mephedrone etc.)
Overheating (the back of their neck or chest will be hot to the touch)
Excessive sedation (nodding out/unable to stay awake)
Shallow/irregular breathing
Blue extremities (fingers, toes, lips)
Unconsciousness
GHB/GBL
The person may appear to be asleep but cannot be woken
Fast, irregular or weak pulse
Convulsions
Shallow, irregular, laboured or raspy/gurgling breathing
Incoherence, profuse sweating, vomiting
Nitrous Oxide
(typically non-fatal but not to be ignored)
Unconsciousness
Seizures
Alcohol
(a lot on these are similar to severe intoxication but if any of them occur, stay with the person and monitor the situation because things can escalate quickly)
Confusion
Severely slurred speech
Vomiting
Irregular/slow breathing
Blue/pale skin
Unconsciousness
Special Mentions
Ketamine
At high doses, ketamine can make a person unresponsive and vomit. This is quite dangerous as people have died from choking on their own sick. The risk is higher if alcohol is involved too.
If someone is unresponsive from consuming ketamine, put them in the recovery position and make sure their head is tilted back so their airways are clear and any vomit will come out their mouth if they are sick.
Bad trips
It’s very unlikely that someone will overdose in the traditional sense on psychedelics (but it has happened). However, a bad trip can be incredibly scary and potentially cause harm to the individual and those around them.
Most bad trips can be dealt with by changing the environment (moving to a different/calmer place, changing the music etc.), encouraging the person to focus on something else (touching a soft blanket, doing some colouring in) and calmly talking them through whatever they are finding scary or disturbing.
That said, if you’re not experienced with psychedelics or you aren’t in a fit state to be looking after someone, you may well feel out of your depth. If you don’t feel like to you’re able handle the situation yourself, call 999 for assistance.
What To Do In An Emergency
Call 999 immediately. Try to answer the operator’s questions as clearly, calmly and honestly. Don’t worry if it feels like the questions are taking ages, the ambulance will already be on its way.
Do your ‘DR ABC’s. DR ABC stands for Danger, Responsiveness, Airways, Breathing and Circulation. Familiarise yourself with the process here. Otherwise the 999 operator will be able to assist you over the phone.
If the person is overheating, try to cool them down. Remove outer layers of clothing and use damp cloths.
If the person is fitting/having a seizure, make the area safe. Move tables, chairs, candles etc. away from the person so they don’t hurt themselves further. Don’t try and restrain them.
Put the person in the recovery position. You can learn how to do that here.
Once the paramedics arrive, answer any further questions that they have. The more they know, the more help they will be able to provide for your friend.
Witnessing an overdose or overdosing yourself can be really scary. If this ever happens to you, feel free to get in touch and we can offer you support.
Lockdown has been stressful for all of us whether you’re a key worker on the frontline, your kitchen has become your office (and also your child’s nursery!), or being furloughed has landed you with a huge amount of free time. Understandably, many people have been turning to alcohol and other drugs. If you’re one of these people, here’s some tips to keep yourself safe and well.
Avoid Sharing
Sharing drinks, drugs and paraphernalia (snorting tubes, bongs, flat surfaces etc.) is common practice in many social circles. However, this is a great way of spreading coronavirus (and in the case of snorting tubes, blood borne viruses like Hepatitis C). Keep your stash to yourself and make sure to practice proper hygiene by wiping down surfaces used to prepare drugs with an antiviral wipe. Just because nobody in your group has symptoms, doesn’t mean that nobody has the virus.
Look After Your Body
Taking drugs, particularly stimulants like cocaine and MDMA, will have a negative effect on your immune system. As will drinking alcohol. Smoking cannabis, tobacco or anything else will have a negative effect on your lung health. Both these things will make you more vulnerable to coronavirus. If you choose to use cannabis, consider buying vape or making some edibles. If you’re using other drugs (including alcohol), don’t exceed the recommended dose, make sure you stay hydrated and eat plenty of healthy foods to help your body recover.
Avoid Self-Medicating
It’s possible you’re feeling more anxious or stressed during lockdown and the temptation to self-medicate is high. Self-medicating might sort out your worries in the short term but regular hangovers or comedowns will have a negative impact on your mental health in the long-run. Try doing other activities to take your mind off the stresses of lockdown life, like meditation, exercise or cooking a nutritious meal. If you’re worried about your mental health, try speaking to your GP or contact VitaMinds for confidential mental health support.
Keep an Eye On Your Use
At the moment, it’s easy to lose track of the days and just as easy to lose track of your drug and alcohol use. Try to monitor how often you’re using and how much you use each time. If you feel like things are getting out of control, take a break. A good way to prevent overuse is to only buy what you plan on taking that day/night. Breaking Free Online is a great tool to help you develop strategies to deal with cravings and urges (you can sign-up with our access code ‘BDP01’). If you’re not sure what your use is like compared to other people, try looking at the Drugs Meter. It’s also important to keep an eye on your mates. Make sure they know if they’re having a bad time its ok to come to you for support. Being able to talk honestly about your drug use is one of the best ways to stop things going sideways.
If you’re concerned about your use of alcohol or other drugs, or the use of a friend or family member, give us a call on 01179896000 for free, confidential advice and support.
At the beginning of November The Drop launched a harm reduction service at the University of Bristol. Students can access harm reduction information, advice and support on alcohol and other drugs and free reagent drug testing kits.
Reagent testing kits are chemicals that change colour when a drug is added. The colour change can then be compared to a reference table to work out if the sample is what it is supposed to be. Reagent testing kits are only able to detect the presence of a drug, not the quantity or purity. This blog will talk through some common questions people have about reagent testing.
Science isn’t my thing, aren’t reagent testing kits really complicated to use?
There’s no denying that a certain level of skill is required to use reagent testing kits effectively but once you know what you’re doing, it will only take a minute or two. It’s important to use them safely, to understand what might happen if your drugs are a mix of substances and what to do if you don’t understand the results. It’s a good idea to have a practice on a substance that you know is what it’s supposed to be (eg. ibuprofen) so you can learn the process.
I’ve heard reagent kits can give false positives, is this true?
If there’s more than one substance in your drugs its possible for the colour change from one substance to mask the colour change of another, which could give you a false positive. If a sample is a mixture, you may also notice multiple colour changes concurrently or a ‘muddy’ result, both of which indicate contamination and the safest thing to do is to chuck your drugs away. Reagent tests aren’t fool proof so it’s vital to follow other harm reduction practices every time you use drugs, even if you’ve tested them.
My dealer always has the best stuff so why would I need one?
Just because your dealer says they have the best stuff or their stuff always feels strong it doesn’t mean their drugs are legit. Dealers don’t generally test their substances or know the original source so there’s no way for them to guarantee that their supply is pure. It’s always worth testing your drugs, even if you think you can trust the source.
I tested my drugs and the result is as I expected, does that mean my drugs are safe?
As always, the safest way to use drugs is not to use them at all. It’s really important that you follow harm reduction advice (dosage, interactions etc.) for your drug(s) of choice even when you’re fairly certain they’re what they’re supposed to be, particularly as reagents can’t test for purity or quantity. For example, if you test a pill you think is MDMA and a reagent test confirms this, you still won’t know if it contains 80mg of MDMA or 300mg so always start low and take it slow.
Isn’t supplying these kits going to increase drug use?
Being able to test drugs means people are more likely to realise if they get a bad batch, and are therefore more likely to dispose of harmful substances. When The Loop have tested drugs at festivals they found that 1 in 5 people disposed of their drugs once they had the result. A good comparison is providing sex education and contraception. These interventions haven’t caused an increase in people having sex, but they have reduced the incidence of STIs and unplanned pregnancies.
I already follow harm reduction advice so why bother?
It’s great that people are getting more engaged in harm reduction and we really encourage you to continue following safer use guidelines. However, these guidelines usually relate to a particular substance so they aren’t completely water tight if your drugs are mis-sold. For example, a reagent kit is able to tell you if your MDMA is actually N-Ethylpentylone, a much more harmful substance that can be deadly at doses considered normal for MDMA.
So are they worth it?
Reagent testing kits are not the be all and end all of harm reduction but we think they are worth using, as long as you are aware of their limitations and they are delivered as a package alongside a tailored harm reduction intervention. That’s why we’ve decided that in our scheme, you will only be able to pick up a kit once you have spoken to one of our workers about what harm reduction practices could help keep you safe. You’ll also receive training in how to use the kits safely and what they can and cannot do. If you’ve got any questions about the scheme, or would like to sign up, please get in touch.
If you would like to know more about harm reduction, would like some support around your drug use or are concerned about a friend or family member, please get in touch on 07903799104, at thedrop@bdp.org.uk or on our socials @TheDrop_BDP.
