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A team of pharmacists will test substances handed over by the public as part of London’s first drug-checking service which organisers hope will improve people’s access to treatment and support and build early warning systems to reduce harm.

The charity The Loop, which has launched the initiative in Hackney and Camden, said the service will bring together pharmacists, other health professionals, local drug and alcohol teams and academic experts to analyse substances and gather data to improve “personalised consultations” with patients.

The Loop said the results of the service will “feed into local, national and international early warning systems, including public-facing drug alerts” and build on its “understanding of drug trends”.

The scheme is funded by Hackney and Camden councils, supported by the Metropolitan Police and licensed by the Home Office. The Loop launched a drug-checking service in Bristol in 2024.

“The (London) service will aim to reach and work with people at all stages of dependency, seeking to reduce potential harms at the earliest opportunity,” The Loop said.

“Drug checking provides a unique opportunity for people to access rapid, accurate and timely information about substances of concern in circulation in the local drug market, combined with non-judgemental support from health professionals.”

Insisting the service “marks a major step for harm reduction in the UK”, The Loops’s CEO Katy Porter said: “Hackney and Camden are the first of several London boroughs we are working with, alongside further cities. 

“This launch represents another important shift toward evidence-based health interventions at a time when drug deaths in England are at an all-time high.”

The Loop said both services in London and Bristol “are free, confidential, non-judgemental and provided monthly”.

Professor Fiona Measham, the founder of The Loop and chair in criminology at the University of Liverpool, said: “Drug markets are more dangerous than ever, with increasing numbers of potent synthetic drugs in circulation across the UK.

“Drug-checking can play a unique role in countering these threats, acting as the ‘canary in the coalmine’. It tests, identifies and communicates these risks rapidly and directly to local services and local communities.

“Drug-checking reduces drug-related harm, which reduces the burden on emergency services and the NHS.”