Want to Reduce Drug-Related Harm? Easy: Support The Loop

Our friends at The Loop want to reduce drug-related harm and deaths. In case you haven't read one of the many articles we've run about their work, or seen that they partnered with us for our Safe Sesh campaign, they're the scientists and volunteers who've been cropping up at festivals across the UK to test drugs for contaminants and other problems, and to offer you personalised harm reduction advice.

Their work is, quite obviously, vital. Drug deaths are at an all-time high in the UK, partly down to how strong all your favourite drugs have become, and The Loop's testing can you give you a heads up of what to expect before you take them, to make sure you properly manage your doses. It's also always nice to know if your pill is actually concrete, or your coke is actually anti-malaria medication, or your ketamine is actually sugar, or whatever it is The Loop has discovered drugs being sold as.

Anyway, they want to expand their services, so you can get your drugs tested in city centres, as well as the festivals and clubs where they already have a presence.

Because The Loop doesn't receive any government funding or grants, they need the public's help to cover costs, which is where you come in. Click here to pledge money directly to The Loop, or if you'd rather, click on that Instagram link above to buy a VICE Safe Sesh T-shirt, the proceeds of which will be donated to The Loop's fundraising effort.

The current government is never going to take a sensible, evidence-based approach to drug policy and harm reduction. For some inexplicable reason, they have made it clear that they'd rather continue losing the "War On Drugs" and actively harming the general population.

Until there's a considerable shift at the Home Office, independent ventures like The Loop are the best line of defence we have against the harms caused by drugs. If you're a drug user or have friends who are, now's the time to pitch in and do your bit. Also: what's a tenner? A fifth of a gram? A couple of pints? Exactly.

Read more about The Loop at wearetheloop.org