In an ideal world, students won’t touch drugs, but we know in reality things are often different. (Photo: Getty)

Drugs misuse is not condoned at the University of Sheffield. It’s important this is made very clear.

Possession, use and supply of controlled drugs is illegal in the UK, and this is no different at Sheffield Students’ Union – we have a zero tolerance policy towards drugs. But keeping students safe is not as simple as that.

It’s important we are realistic. In an ideal world, students won’t touch drugs, but we know in reality things are often different.

Some students across the UK will and do try drugs during their time at university. It’s with this in mind that we took the decision to direct students to external guidance from Loop to make sure that, while we can’t condone drug use, if a student does choose to take drugs they are as informed as possible, and take steps to take all reasonable precautions. Media coverage over the last two days stating that by outlining this advice Sheffield is condoning drug use is inaccurate and wrong.




Too many young people experiment with drugs without any knowledge of what they do, how they work and what the risks are. We need to provide students information so that they can make informed decisions – and stay safe.

This isn’t the Students’ Union normalising drug-taking; this is us taking precautions to reduce risk.

Student safety is the most important thing for us, and in my role as welfare officer it’s important I do everything I can to ensure this is the case. We work tirelessly to proactively share safety messages around the risks of drug and alcohol use and my predecessors have worked with the University on various campaigns – along with city partners including Sheffield Hallam and South Yorkshire Police – to get these messages out.

One of the things we’ve done in the last year is collaborate with the university who have produce a range of videos and information to keep our students safe.

These are hard hitting but important for our students to understand, so not something we want to shy away from. We cover a range of risks, from the fact drugs may be cut with unpleasant substances to add extra bulk and make them cheaper to produce, to drug addiction, to knowing where to turn for help.

Our students have welcomed these messages and the proactive lengths we’ve gone to ensure they’re aware of the dangers. It’s also made very clear to students that on a night out, if they should feel unwell or come into any trouble, they will not be judged or penalised in any way. At that stage, it’s our students’ safety that’s most important and we have trained first aid staff on site at all times to look after students.

Drug use among young people is a big issue, so our work doesn’t end here. Our Student Advice Centre in the Students’ Union offers confidential, impartial advice on welfare issues. We also work closely with Sheffield DACT, a team in the city responsible for two separate areas of work; support for victims of domestic abuse, and support and treatment for drug and alcohol misuse.

It’s important our students feel safe on club nights so our SU also has a detailed policy on search and seizure of drugs, with immediate venue bans for non-students found with drugs and venue bans and additional disciplinary measures for students found with drugs.



But as a responsible students’ union, our role is about more than just telling student not to take drugs. It’s also about education and harm reduction, something that is needed right now. It’s important to recognise the clear difference – health protection is not promoting use.

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