Pharmacists are part of the healthcare teams running London’s first public-facing drug checking service.
It’s run by charity The Loop, which opened the first regular drug checking service in Bristol in January 2024.
The London service is the UK’s second service of its kind, with two locations in Hackney and Camden free for users.
How does it work?
Service users bring their drugs to the drop-in where they fill out a form detailing what drug they have brought in and share information on their drug use.
The Loop team perform lab tests on the drug which takes an hour, and this includes testing for traces of highly potent synthetic opioids.
Then its healthcare team then goes through information on what the drug is that has been tested, and will offer harm reduction advice to the service user.
Read more: MHRA seized £45m in illegally traded drugs in 2025
Chief executive Katy Porter said this marks “a major step for harm reduction in the UK” and “crucially more people will now have access to regular drug checking”.
“Hackney and Camden are the first of several London boroughs we are working with, alongside further cities.”
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The Loop has pharmacists in its healthcare and volunteer teams and told C+D it would be happy to recruit more.
Porter said pharmacists are particularly helpful to the wider multidisciplinary team in the understanding and articulating of drug interactions.
NHS
The service is fully funded by Hackney and Camden councils, supported by the Metropolitan police, and will form a part of a multi-agency partnership that includes local drug and alcohol teams and academic experts.
Loop founder and chair Professor Fiona Measham said the service will reduce drug-related harm but also reduce “the burden on emergency services and the NHS”.
“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’,” she said.
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The Hackney site will be open on the third Saturday of every month starting on March 21 at 110 Mare Street, E8 3SG.
The Camden branch will open on the first Saturday of every month starting on April 4 at 43-45 King’s Terrace, NW1 0JR.
Last month, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) warned the public not to “risk their health by buying medicines online” as it revealed that it seized almost 20 million illegal erectile dysfunction pills in the last five years.
