Understanding street tablet users’ perspectives in an area with many drug-related deaths

A new study presents the perspectives of people who use street tablets in Middlesborough, an area with one of the highest rates of drug-related harm and death in the UK. A peer researcher with past experience of drug use engaged with people at high risk of harm from drugs to seek their perspectives.

The study team included researchers from NIHR ARC West and the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation and Behavioural Science, and the findings are published in the Harm Reduction Journal.

Street tablets are prescription tablets obtained illicitly rather than from a doctor or pharmacy. Using street tablets is risky, particularly if people take them in combination with other drugs.

Middlesborough has especially high rates of drug-related harm and death. Street tablet use may be partly to blame.

To be able to tackle this problem, and reduce the risk of harm and death from drugs, we need to understand the perspectives of the people who use these drugs. Research often misses these people’s perspectives.

A peer researcher surveyed a group of 38 people in Middlesborough who use drugs. Nearly two thirds were not involved in drug treatment and more than one third were homeless.

The survey asked what drugs they use, how much and how often, why they use them and what treatment options they would like.

Most people surveyed were taking the street tablets pregabalin and zopiclone, at doses much higher than recommended for medical use. Most took these together with other drugs.

They said they took street tablets for the way they made them feel, mentally or physically, and because they are inexpensive. Most took them in an attempt to treat otherwise untreated mental health conditions.

The people surveyed liked the idea of programmes to help people taking street tablets reduce their risk of harm.

The study found peer research was an acceptable way to engage with vulnerable people and find out about local drug use. It concludes that advice on how to reduce the risk of harm from drugs, tailored to people using street tablets in combination with other drugs, is needed.

Hannah Poulter, study lead and Research Associate at Teesside University, said:

“Collaborating with peer researchers was integral to engaging this high-risk and underrepresented population of people who use drugs into the research process.

“This research emphasises an urgent need for acceptable drug treatments for street tablets, particularly in areas of the UK overrepresented by drug harms.”

Jo Kesten, Research Fellow at NIHR ARC West and NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation and Behavioural Science, said:

“This research underscores the urgent need for greater support for people using street tablets such as pregabalin and zopiclone, particularly in light of the rising number of drug-related deaths.”