The Loop to launch first-ever drug checking services in Birmingham
The free services will operate fortnightly from locations in Digbeth and the city centre Continue reading...
Birmingham’s first-ever drug checking services are set to begin operating this weekend.
Harm reduction and drug checking charity The Loop today announced the launch of its first operation in Birmingham, which will be free to the public.
The services will operate fortnightly from two locations, one in Digbeth at BIRCH (Birmingham Integrated Recovery Community Hub) and a second in the city centre at Lonsdale House.
The drug checking services will open for the first time on Saturday, November 14, and are fully funded by Birmingham City Council in response to a rise in drug-related deaths in the UK.
The services will combine "rapid chemical analysis of substances of concern" with tailored and "non-judgemental" health consultations, The Loop says, and asks those using the services to surrender a small amount of a substance for analysis.
Stations will be run by The Loop’s chemists and health staff, and will also provide information from testing to the public if high-strength or contaminated substances appear to be in circulation.
Read this next: London’s first-ever drug checking services to open in Hackney and Camden
It also marks 10 years since The Loop began operating, with their first "event-based" drug checking services launched on site at festivals in 2016, and later the UK’s first Home Office-licensed drug checking services in Bristol in 2024.
Three London-based services were also launched earlier this year across Hackney and Camden with support from the Metropolitan Police, allowing more access to regular drug checking.
"Drug checking gives people access to accurate information within a harm reduction consultation informed by The Loop's testing," says The Loop CEO Katy Porter.
"Alongside the individualised support, it contributes to our understanding of local drug markets, helps inform wider harm reduction responses delivered by all our partners, and responds to the continued concern in the level of harm and drug-related deaths across the UK".
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