Drug and Harm Reduction FAQs

There are several resources within the University and in the wider community where students can seek further information and support.

The Student Health and Wellbeing Service provides free, confidential support to any student concerned about their own drug use or the drug use of other students. Their support ranges from, helping you register with a Doctor, to informal pastoral support via Listening Ear, to ongoing counselling, and help to access specialist external support services.

Alternatively, you could talk to your Students’ Union (NUSU). NUSU have their own Students for Sensible Drugs Policy Society that any Newcastle student can join. This is a completely student led society, promoting safe drug use across campus, providing information, directions to services for anyone in need. They also have further links to external agencies you can contact for support.

NUSU has also partnered with the Student Health and Wellbeing Service and Newcastle Treatment and Recovery (NTaR) to offer a free, confidential space to chat and get support for concerns about drug or alcohol use. This is a free, non-judgmental service open to all Newcastle students. Contact CDC.union@ncl.ac.uk for more information.

You could speak to your friend about your concerns, though this is not an easy thing to do. Advice on this can be found at Talk to Frank.

Perhaps consider making an appointment with the Student Advice Centre or seeking help from the Student Health and Wellbeing Service.

If the Police carry out an investigation into illegal drugs being found in a house they may well speak to all occupants as part of their investigation, however you will not get into trouble just because you live in that house, regardless of the course that you are studying.

If you have any concerns regarding drug use in your house, you can speak to Student Health and Wellbeing Service, Student Progress or Student Advice Centre. 

Possession of drugs is a criminal offence. Each incident of possession is taken on its merits and there may be a situation where an incident of possession may simply not be appropriate to report to the Police (e.g. where wellbeing concerns outweigh other considerations). Cases of simple possession and other drugs offences are generally not reported to the Police but are dealt with under the University Disciplinary Procedures.

The Police do have powers of stop and search in relation to drugs as per s.23 Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 which includes inside student accommodation. Any Officer conducting a search under this power must have reasonable grounds to suspect that you are in possession of illegal drugs.

The residences team would require access to your bedroom to complete a termly room check. This includes checking that your room meets our standards of cleanliness and hygiene, along with health & safety checks and you will be given 7 days notice of this request for access.

We may also access your room to complete a repair requested by you and will leave a card advising that we have visited, if you are not present at the time of the repair. As we are responding to your request, the repair will be completed in line with our published repair timescales.

There are some occasions when access would be required without giving notice.  This may be due to a request for a welfare check, for example following hospital attendance for an injury.  In emergency situations such as fire, flood, loss of power or risk to life, security colleagues or the residences team may require access to your room.

The NUSU Bar and Events space is a licensed venue, and the License Holder must abide by the conditions of that license. During a routine search or incident that results in a member of security or staff discovering drugs, we are legally obliged to inform the police and retain the individual on site.

Yes, this policy applies to all illicit substances, including those that are sometimes commonly known as ‘legal highs’.

Both NUSU and the University welcome and encourage all our students to get involved with volunteering, support and shaping policy and procedures. NUSU have their very own Students for Sensible Drugs Policy (SSDP) which you may wish to join or you could get more involved through the central NUSU campaigns and officer team.

The NUSU Student Advice Centre has specialist housing advisers that can help with any housing issue, including eviction. Go to their website to book an appointment.

SHWS support is free and confidential.  SHWS would only ever talk to you parents and tutors if there was a serious and/or life-threatening concern which could only be mitigated by contacting your parents and/or tutor.   

The Students’ Union is separate from the University, and you can talk to officers, the Advice Centre or other relevant staff members of NUSU without the assumption that this information will be forwarded to the University. The only exception to this would be if there was an immediate danger of harm to yourself or others, which could be mitigated by only contacting the University.

All reports made to the University will be investigated in line with the Student Disciplinary Procedure, whether that be at Level 1 (locally e.g., by Accommodation Services) or Level 2 (formally by the Student Progress Service).  However, all cases will be considered on their individual merit/circumstance and appropriate sanctions applied only where misconduct, on the balance of probabilities, is thought to have occurred.  Repeated or serious incidents (e.g., dealing drugs) will be dealt with particularly seriously.  

Simply put, no. It is important to remember the safest way to do drugs is to not do them at all. However, if you are going to take drugs, it is essential you inform yourself of all aspects of reducing their potential harm. It is important to remember that testing a drug does not mean it is safe to consume. The kits we are providing do not test for the strength, potency, or the concentration of a drug, and should be seen as one strand of the action necessary to reduce harm and do not eliminate it. The kits work by identifying the given substance to see if it is cut or mixed with another, potentially harmful or even lethal substance. They also allow you to have greater certainty over whether it is the drug you intended to purchase in the first place, as misinformation can be harmful. Remember, most difficulties incurred by recreational drug use happen because of mixing drugs with alcohol and other drugs, or because of dosing. For more information and support on harm reduction, please check out https://www.nusu.co.uk/support/harm/.