Exclusive: Met Police refusing to carry life-saving medicine for drug overdoses
Drug deaths are rising in London. Why won't frontline officers carry an overdose antidote?
Morning — for the past few weeks we’ve been trying to get to the bottom of a grim statistic: drug deaths have hit a 25-year high in London. No single drug lies behind the rise — deaths related to heroin, cocaine and ecstasy are all up. What’s more, researchers tell us they fear it could get much worse, as they detect new synthetic, extra-strength drugs making their way into the capital’s market.
One solution is already on the way, however. In November, charity The Loop announced that it was launching a drug testing scheme at the north London club Drumsheds. It’s the first-ever testing scheme with a fixed site in London. Drugs confiscated by or surrendered to bouncers will be tested back-of-house, with safety alerts issued to clubbers in real time.
But as private venues and charities crack on, experts say London’s public institutions aren’t pulling their weight. First is the Met Police, which we’ve discovered is refusing to follow the lead of other police forces in the UK that have issued frontline officers with treatment for overdoses. “It’s frankly appalling,” says one drug policy expert, who has for years seen the Met’s senior leadership resist the idea.
Second is the London mayor, who has so far ignored attempts by others in City Hall to fund drug safety schemes. They’ve warned Sadiq Khan that London risks “falling behind the curve” unless he learns from radical drug policies now being implemented in Bristol and Glasgow.
A Spy investigation into why London drug deaths are rising, and what’s being done to save the lives of drug users, is below.
Most UK police forces now carry treatment for drug overdoses. Why doesn’t London’s?
By the Spy team
The Met Police is refusing to equip frontline officers with a life-saving medicine for overdoses, amid rising drug deaths in London, the Spy can reveal.
A majority of police forces in the UK now issue their responders with a medicine called naloxone, which they can use to temporarily reverse the effects of an opioid overdose as they wait for medical support to arrive on the scene.
Since 2022 officers for Police Scotland have carried naloxone in pouches on their belts, while last month Devon & Cornwall Police added naloxone to first aid kits kept in their police cars.
But the Met Police has so far refused to give frontline staff access to naloxone in London, a move deemed "inexcusable" by drug policy experts, who say this decision is costing lives.
"I'm hugely critical of the Metropolitan Police for this," Martin Powell, head of partnerships at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, tells this newsletter. "They're one of the last police forces in the country that doesn't carry naloxone for treating people who've had a heroin overdose. It's frankly appalling".
Instead, when the Spy first contacted the Met for this story, a spokesperson told us the force had recently approved "a limited roll out of naloxone for those officers who have no ready access to personal protection equipment". This suggested the force had given the medicine to some officers for use on themselves, in the event they were accidentally exposed to an opioid, for instance during a raid on a drug lab.
When we asked for clarification, the spokesperson said these officers had also been trained to use naloxone on members of the public — but declined to say what roles these officers had, how many had received the training, and whether this included any frontline staff.
A wider roll out of naloxone for police in London "will remain under constant review by the Met clinical governance team," the spokesperson added.
It comes as deaths related to drugs are now at a 25-year high in London, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics in October.
Deaths from opioids like heroin and morphine have doubled in the capital over the past decade, while deaths related to cocaine and ecstasy are now at their highest level since records began in the 1990s.
But those researching London's drug supply have told the Spy they fear deaths could soon "triple", due to a recent influx of synthetic and stronger drugs in the city that is not yet being reflected in official statistics.
"It's a perfect storm," says Andre Gomes, the communications lead for Release and editor of global news site TalkingDrugs. Release runs a drop-in centre in Aldgate that offers harm reduction advice on drugs. "We're seeing a rapidly changing drug market."
There is particular concern about cocaine in London, amid evidence purity has risen following a recent nationwide ban on chemicals previously used as cutting agents and increases in production in South America.
Cocaine deaths have risen tenfold in the capital since the early 1990s, and in 2023 significantly overtook deaths related to heroin and morphine.
Gomes suspects most of the deaths are among older Londoners, amid the higher purity levels. “I think it’s Gen X that are the leading age group that's dying. Their bodies just can't handle it anymore. They can't hack the new drug market, and they can't hack multiple years of recreational drug use, even if it's not problematic, if that makes sense."
In addition, following the Taliban's ban on opioid production in Afghanistan, a new type of synthetic opioid is beginning to circulate in London called nitazenes.
They have been compared to fentanyl, the synthetic opioid currently causing a public health emergency in the US. Nitazenes can be sold to users cut into heroin, but there is now evidence they are being sold as heroin without the user's knowledge, often mixed with caffeine and other filler drugs.
And while deaths related to ecstasy/MDMA are significantly lower than other drugs, experts have been warning about the return of "super-strength" pills to London's clubbing scene amid an "arms race" between suppliers. In October, several people were hospitalised at Fabric in Farringdon due to a batch of high-strength pills.
Together these changes have alarmed drug experts like Powell, who last month presented to the London Drugs Forum, a "multi-agency partnership bringing together criminal justice and health agencies" set up by mayor Sadiq Khan in 2022 to examine drug policy.
Powell is among those calling for more drug testing services to be launched in the capital, to allow users to check the strength of their drugs or for the presence of other substances.
"Things are bad, they're going to get worse. The government knows it, and has to act, as does London," Powell tells the Spy.
Powell has recommended to City Hall that frontline Met officers begin carrying naloxone, which can treat overdoses caused by the new nitazenes.
"It's the antidote for all opiates and opioids," he explains. "And because the police are so often first on the scene, it's really useful to have them equipped with naloxone. And the version they would use — the version used by other forces — is a nasal spray. It's literally a bit like a Vicks sinus spray, where they just squirt it up the person's nose, and it very rapidly reverses the overdose, giving time for an ambulance to arrive or whatever else."
Yet, he says, the Met's senior leadership have resisted the idea for years because they do not believe health interventions are the police's job.
Powell argues: "But police will give CPR, and some police vehicles carry defibrillators. So it's just nonsense — unless, of course, you're actually discriminating against people who use drugs and say their lives don't matter as much as people who have had a heart attack."
He adds: "They've had lots of panels [discussing naloxone], and I've been on panels with them. The more junior levels of officer have sent reports up to their seniors saying they recommend that they should carry this, and then it gets knocked back from the very highest levels saying they won't do it."
Naloxone could be crucial for others aside from heroin users, as new synthetic opioids are making their way into other drugs.
"What we're seeing more and more of is nitazenes actually showing up not just in the heroin supply but in benzodiazepines like Xanax and Valium," says Gomes. "In a very few instances, it's shown up in cannabis vapes. So people that aren't used to using opioids suddenly get exposed to something that can be 10 to 500 times stronger than normal, overdosing, and then they don't have naloxone on hand, and they don't know how to stay safe because they're not prepared".
But while Gomes thinks emergency responders should carry naloxone, it doesn’t solve bigger underlying issues with drug policy. “When you are operating in an environment where people are going to be criminalised and stigmatised for using drugs, the real question is: Why are we equipping the very force that is most likely to send them to prison or strip search them for using drugs with the medicine that is supposed to save them? Why aren't we just giving this out to people that use opioids or to bystanders, and providing training on that, increasing people's information on how to respond to an overdose?"
The Met's wider attitude to drug use and safety in London was summarised in the force's statement following the recent hospitalisations at Fabric in October.
At the time a spokesperson for the Met said: "There is no ‘safe’ way to take drugs. There is always a risk. Do not purchase illegal drugs."
But those advocating for safer drug use through testing services have cautiously welcomed a recent development.
In November, charity The Loop and north London club Drumsheds announced a drug testing scheme, in which substances confiscated by security or surrendered into amnesty bins will be checked on site.
Clubbers will then get alerts on the night if anything harmful is found.
It is the first-ever drug testing scheme with a fixed site in London — The Loop has previously operated at the capital's park festivals on an ad hoc basis.
“We believe in taking proactive steps to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all audiences and the introduction of testing is a significant move in that direction," said Drumsheds head of operations Sam Spencer in a statement announcing the scheme. "The information gathered helps us continue to respond in real-time to potential risks, and following the ONS report of increased drug-related harms, this initiative represents a crucial shift in how the industry responds".
Others in London's nightlife industry have welcomed the initiative, raising the possibility other venues may adopt something similar. "This benchmark approach is internationally recognised and will go a long way in helping to minimise drug-related harms across the capital," Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association (NTA), tells the Spy. "It's an important step forward in safeguarding public."
But some want to go further. The scheme at Drumsheds is a so-called 'back-of-house' testing scheme, where drugs are tested out of sight of the public and without one-on-one advice.
That is in contrast to 'front-of-house' testing, where service users can drop off a substance and get direct results. Testing takes place ahead of the weekend, giving more time for warnings to circulate.
Location also matters. Gomes says: "We need more testing schemes, but not just in music spaces. We also need them in the city, because it isn't just people that are partying, that are able to pay £30, £40, £50 pounds to go to Drumsheds that need support. They are not the people that are most likely going to die from using drugs."
A proposal that potentially ticks those boxes was recently discussed at the London Assembly.
Emma Best AM, the deputy leader of City Hall Conservatives, had proposed a motion in February calling on the mayor to earmark £150,000 to fund the centres, which would have been modelled off a centre in Bristol that opened earlier this year.
That Bristol centre is also run by The Loop and operates a monthly drop-in service, where drugs are tested then destroyed, and results and advice are given to service users.
Best had proposed creating two front-of-house testing centres in the capital, one north and one south of the river.
However, despite the motion passing, Sadiq Khan did not include any such plans in his latest budget. "We were quite disappointed. London can't be behind the curve on this," Best tells the Spy.
She adds: "The centres would absolutely be worth the cost. If we can get places where people feel safe to talk about drug use, then we can reduce drug use. A lot of people think testing centres encourage drug taking, but actually it's a way to open a conversation with people about the potential damage they could be causing themselves, which they don't hear in other places or feel comfortable talking about."
We asked the mayor's office why Khan had ignored the motion, and whether he would be considering Best's proposals for a future budget.
A spokesperson replied that "drug checking services" were among the options currently being considered by the mayor's London Drugs Forum, though didn’t go as far as to say funding would be included in the coming mayor’s budget.
They said in full:
The mayor is determined to do everything he can to protect Londoners from the harms of illegal drugs.
As part of his ongoing public health approach to tackling illegal drug use, the mayor’s London Drugs Forum works with partners across the capital to ensure a comprehensive and joined up approach, as well as considering a range of tools to best keep Londoners safe, including drug checking services, so we can build a safer London for all.
Ensuring that drugs users have access to good quality and effective drug treatment services is the most important factor in reducing drug deaths.
Some, like Kill of the NTA, are cautious about moving too fast on drug safety in London in the wake of the new scheme at Drumsheds. “Bristol is undoubtedly leading the way in harm reduction among UK cities,” he says. “However, the implementation of back-of-house testing in London marks a crucial milestone in fostering confidence in testing as a means to reduce harm. It's essential that we bring stakeholders, including the police, along with us on this journey before developing the strategy further.”
But in light of the rising statistics, both Powell and Gomes think London should take a further radical step, and consider opening a supervised drug consumption room.
The UK’s first opened in Glasgow this October. It will allow people to consume drugs such as heroin and cocaine in an effort to reduce fatal overdoses in the city.
Powell included the possibility of a supervised drug consumption room in his recent presentation to the mayor’s London Drugs Forum. He’s optimistic about what the Forum could achieve when it finally presents its recommendations.
“There's an enormous amount that they can do,” he says. “I think if they make recommendations to government about what's needed in London, that would put pressure on in London to allow some of these things that I've talked about, which take time to put in place. We need to be moving now. We don't want it to be a situation where deaths are heading towards a hockey stick curve."
A spokesperson for the Met Police told us:
Currently the Met has approved a limited roll out of naloxone for those officers who have no ready access to personal protection equipment. This is complemented by health care practitioners with naloxone capability being present at consistent times during the day in the majority of our custody suites and at all other times, support from the London Ambulance Service, who will respond rapidly to police calls for medical assistance.
The need for further officers to be trained in the administration of naloxone will remain under constant review by the Met clinical governance team, through auditing the first aid incidents attended by officers along with the intelligence from the drugs and forensics teams, and coronial data. The above position will be reconsidered in the light of any changing evidence.
The Met continue to work with partners to prevent drug related deaths in collaboration with the Office for Health and Improvement Disparities (OHID) and other stakeholders as part of their Combating Drugs Partnerships.
The Met will support all key delivery partners to carry and be trained to administer Naloxone, which is available at numerous locations across London. Project Adder is uniquely positioned to discuss risks and threats with the Combatting Drugs Partnerships (CDP), and then share learning and improve appropriate internal processes within the Met. This coincides with current Met Emergency Life Support Training in which every frontline officer is informed of Naloxone, its positive effects and how to appropriately deal with persons carrying it in order to support them and ensure they receive the necessary medical care.
Project Adder has led on delivering a number of improved processes looking to reduce drug related deaths and harm. Some examples of these include a more streamlined LDIS (Local Drug Information System) to share significant risks with partners and drugs users along with the recent launch of the MPS Voluntary Referral App, an innovative process that allows every officer to refer persons into treatment outside of the criminal justice system.
The threat of overdose and fatalities linked to this has been increasing since spring 2024 and the Met are actively engaged in the Project Housebuilder, a National Crime Agency led multi-agency response to the threat of synthetic opioids.