Blog

Any headline containing the phrase “super-strength street drugs” is attention-grabbing, and not in a good way. In recent months, such news stories have all seemed to be about the same group of substances: nitazenes.   Nitazenes are often referred to as “synthetic opioids”, which makes them sound similar to fentanyl, oxycodone and tramadol, strong painkillers […]

A hot topic of the moment is the use of vapes containing something other than the usual e-liquid. In a way, this isn’t anything new: a few years ago hundreds of cases of lung problems (including several deaths) in the US were mostly found to be associated with the use of vapes containing non-standard ingredients.

The pre-workshop survey that we ask older students to complete always makes interesting reading, and it has put a new product firmly on our radar: nicotine pouches.   If you haven’t heard of them, you aren’t alone. A 2022 ASH survey of over 13,000 adults found that nearly half weren’t aware of them, and most

Before we go into schools to speak to older students (Y11 and older, or equivalent in non-English schools), we ask them to complete a survey. This is invaluable in planning the session we deliver to them, as it tells us what they’ve had before in terms of drugs education, as well as providing an opportunity

A year or so ago, the play of Dan’s story “I Love You Mum, I Promise I Won’t Die” did a tour of a few schools in Scotland. This had a significant impact on many students – and school staff members – who got to experience the performance and the mini-workshop afterwards, but also a

When we are booked to deliver a drugs education workshop to students aged 15 years or older, we try and survey them beforehand. This is a vital piece of our planning process, because it means we can get a handle on what information students want, but also what they need as we ask questions about

The government’s announcement to make nitrous oxide illegal in England and Wales caught many people by surprise, including the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs which had said this measure wasn’t necessary only a couple of weeks previously. So what’s going on?   Just as it is hard to escape seeing discarded nitrous oxide

Spiking is one of the things we get asked about quite a lot during our workshops in schools. It is understandable, given the relative frequency with which stories appear in the media. It is also something of which the DSM Foundation team has first-hand experience: drugs educator Asha has been spiked three times.   While

Cigarette butts, used nitrous oxide canisters and discarded disposable vapes are common sights in our parks and on our pavements. This week’s blog gives some thought to the hidden cost of these items.   In our quest to stay as up to date as possible – after all, in order for drugs education to be

Welcome to the DSM Foundation blog, a way of us putting out there some of the things we’d like to say but never seem to get round to saying! We have done a few blog-type pieces in the past, but we are a very small charity, working very hard to do what we do, and