Will drug-testing kits for university students actually improve safety?

Students’ unions – whose key role is to provide support and advice to those undertaking university education – are finding it increasingly hard to turn a blind eye to drug use. More than half of students have taken illegal substances, the latest report from the NUS found – and that cannot simply be ignored.

Wellbeing is becoming a more important priority for many universities. Students are frequently given information on mental and sexual health – and now more students’ unions are seeking to introduce drug-testing kits at universities to reduce the harm caused by taking unregulated drugs.

Already some university students have been able to check what they are putting in their bodies thanks to such initiatives.

For example, University of Manchester students can pick up single-use test kits for a suggested donation of £2.50. They work by adding a small amount of the drug to a chemical which will change colour depending on the substances it contains.

By providing drug-testing kits, students’ unions are encouraging safe drug usage. After all, checking what is in the substance before taking it could save lives. In August, figures from the ONS showed that deaths in England and Wales from the opioid fentanyl and variants of it had nearly doubled in a year.

The move may help students to make more informed choices about drugs – and it could, in fact, deter students from taking the drugs at all. Eva Crossan Jory, the NUS vice-president for welfare, said some students at University of Sussex decided not to consume their drugs after finding out what was inside.

But despite a growing interest in drug-testing kits – which can improve outreach work and raise awareness – only one in 10 students with experience of taking drugs have used them.

Even campaigners in favour of these services recognise that there are limitations. A single kit may detect the purity of the drug but not what is in it, and vice versa. They do not give all the answers.

Moreover, experts say the provision of drug-testing kits needs to be coupled with other forms of support – such as counselling, broader drugs education, and more comprehensive drugs testing services.

And yet many student unions and universities appear to be too scared to promote this kind of service because it can attract a lot of negative attention from outspoken critics. The University of Sheffield recently came under fire for giving detailed advice on how to take drugs “safely” on its website.

Of course, the kits will only work if students know about them and if they trust that they will not be punished for picking one up – especially if their university has a very strict attitude towards drugs.

Students at the University of Buckingham, for instance, may be unlikely to seek help now the institution’s vice-chancellor has said that students will have to sign a contract pledging not to take illegal drugs.

Momentum is building. But for harm to be reduced, it will take more than a few student organisations to make a difference. The experience of young people will only change if universities – as well as festival organisers and nightclub owners – alter their approach to drugs.