University of Manchester handed part of £5m fund to 'reduce recreational student drug use'

The University of Manchester (UoM) has been awarded part of a £5m government fund for a project aimed at reducing student drug use. The innovative new student education programme led by UoM is one of five new projects aimed at reducing recreational drug use to have been awarded money by the innovation fund.

As university is usually the first time young people will have lived away from their parents, for some, that new freedom coupled with opportunities for recreational drug taking can lead to experimentation.

This is demonstrated by the fact that university students are almost twice as likely to have used an illegal drug in the last year compared with other people of the same age.

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UoM staff think the university setting provides an ideal opportunity to deliver educational information aimed at helping students stay safe - whether by abstinence, encouraging moderate use, or reducing the demand for so-called recreational drugs among young people.

The Staying Safe Programme (TSSP) is a documentary-style video education project which has been designed to reduce demand for drugs by deterring or delaying the onset of their use.

It also aims to prevent the transition to heavy or problematic use and equips students with the knowledge required to reduce the harms associated with the use of recreational drugs.

TSSP is being backed by The Department of Health and Social Care’s £5 million Innovation Fund to reduce recreational drug use, and will be able to bid for further funding in the future.

The programme, which is being piloted at UoM and the University of South Wales (USW), was developed by experts in the fields of medicine, addiction,