Training Packages

This training course introduces delegates to the field of legal and illegal drugs, what the latest evidence shows about current drug markets, and explores the most commonly used recreational drugs, such as cocaine, MDMA and ketamine, what their desired effects, risks and how those risks can be reduced. We u“The Drugs Wheel” to enable attendees to categorise and explore further the different types of drugs.

This training course begins by covering the Drugs Awareness course in the morning. In the afternoon, the course looks at the legislation surrounding drugs in the UK as well as the role of your staff in reducing the likelihood of people coming to drug-related harm. The course finishes with case studies which work through the considerations for your organisation in responding to a drug-related incident. This course can also be adapted to look at specific considerations for the outdoor events industry, including music festivals.

This course takes an evidence-based look at the topic of drink spiking and wider links between alcohol, other drug use and sexual violence. The course looks at what data there is on spiking, as well as the limitations of the current evidence base. It also considers the main drugs associated with spiking, such as alcohol, GHB/GBL, benzodiazepines and ketamine. Finally, the course looks at the role of the media and societal factors in some of the reported cases in recent years.

This can be a one day course or half day course. This course begins by looking at what a harm reduction approach is, as well as its history and development in the United Kingdom. Focusing on drug-related issues that are likely to emerge in your place of work, we identify what harm reduction approaches can be taken to help keep people safe.

The course uses case studies to identify particular high risk situations, and can provide additional material on responding to drug-related emergencieswhich looks at historical and contemporary understandings of harm reduction and identifies key strategies to help keep people safe who are considering taking legal or illicit drugs.

We identify a range of harm reduction strategies, examine the role of different staff groups in helping to keep people safe, explore typical drug presentations and associated issues, and consider how they can be dealt with from a harm reduction perspective.

Over the past 7 years The Loop has issued over 50 drug alerts and engaged in numerous drug safety and harm reduction campaigns in the national press.

Issuing drug safety information or drug alerts is a difficult art – slight errors in wording or omissions of important information may risk doing more harm than good. This course takes delegates through some of the considerations when communicating drug-related information. It is best suited to those who already have a good understanding of drug use and organisations who may issue a drug alert or risk communication to drug users.

This half day course updates participants with the latest trends in drug markets, including price, purity and prevalence of commonly taken drugs. Informed by The Loop’s city centre drug checking and events based testing, this course educates participants in the latest market information.

This course introduces the concept of ‘chemsex’, as well as sexualised drug use more generally, and looks at why people take part in it. The course looks at some of the drugs most commonly associated, as well as drug taking behaviours, before concluding by looking at what harm reduction responses can be used to support chemsex participants.

This comprehensive course on ketamine delves into its journey from a medical anaesthetic to a prominent recreational substance. The course will cover the economics of the drug, purity, adulterants, and the broader drug market. We’ll take a closer look at ketamine’s unique place in the ‘free party’ and festival scenes, and explore its potential evolving role in mental health treatment. Gain a thorough understanding of ketamine’s effects and risks, both short and long term, such as ‘k-cramps’ and ketamine-induced cystitis. Lastly, the course will emphasise harm reduction practices, offering practical strategies for both users and event organisers in environments where ketamine is used.

This is an intensive two day course for up to 10 people which is delivered by two trainers.

On Day One we deliver the one day Loop “Reducing Harm in the Night Time Economy” course (as above) and on Day Two we look at how participants can successfully deliver that course to their own teams, covering issues such as:

aims and learning outcomes;

the importance of learning styles and their impact in terms of training delivery;

the range of training methods to support delivery;

how to deal with ‘“difficult’ delegates with challenging behaviours.

In the afternoon of the second day delegates are supported to deliver a short session of their own with constructive verbal and written feedback from both trainers.

Dive deep into the world of nitazenes with this essential course that covers everything from their origins to their rising impact on global drug markets. We begin by learning the history of these potent substances, including how nitazenes have evolved from niche compounds to significant concerns in both the UK and worldwide.

We will explore the latest drug market data, availability and potency as we analyse the rapid rise of these substances, their dangers, and the growing challenges faced by health professionals, individuals and communities.

This course will review practical harm reduction strategies specific to nitazenes, including overdose prevention.