YOUNG PEOPLE - DOIN’ IT LARGE

Largin’ it should be all about having a laugh and being safe. If you’re into going out (and getting home) you should read this…

Many clubbers take a range of drugs. A night out might consist of several bottles of booze, a line of cocaine, dropping a few pills in the club, then back to a mates for more booze and some spliffs to ‘ease the comedown’.

The effects that these drugs might have can depend on all sorts of factors:

• The different drugs mixed together
• Whether the drugs taken actually contain what the person taking them thinks they do
• The environment where the drugs are used
• How the person who is taking the drugs is feeling
• Who the person is taking the drugs with
• How your body might react to the drugs and/or alcohol

Basically, this all means that you can never be sure what effects the drugs and or alcohol may have on people, even if they have taken them before. On top of this, the long term effects of these ‘drug cocktails’ is not yet known.

Using any drug, including alcohol can effect your reactions, moods and how you may experience things. This can not only happen while you are in a pub or club or even at home for the night, but also as you make your way home if you are out.

You also have to think about the risks you might take when you are bladdered because your inhibitions are lowered and judgement is affected. Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in the under 25’s age group, and some STD’s like Chlamydia can be caught, yet you wouldn’t know about it. For more info on sex and the risks go to www.ruthinking.co.uk.
Friday and Saturday night sees admissions to A & E go through the roof. Spending the night in Casualty with a broken ankle after falling off a pavement isn’t much of a laugh and you might be wishing you had had a few less drinks and not ended up in A & E.

What’s more, don’t be fooled into thinking that drink driving is the only thing that isn’t safe. All drugs affect your perceptions and reactions, so if you want to make sure you get home safely you might want to make sure you know how you and your mates are getting home at the end of the night.

You will have heard stories in the press, or even through mates about drinks being ‘spiked’ while you are out. This has also been linked to people becoming victims of drug assisted sexual assault or rape. Unfortunately, this isn’t a practise confined to large cities like London or Manchester, it can, and does happen all over the country.

At the end of the day, when we go out we all want to have a good time. There are steps that you, your mates can take to make sure that a good night out is a good night out for everyone. You can find out more at www.talktofrank.com