Drug and Alcohol Awareness

The Student Drug and Alcohol Impact project is a partnership between uea(su) and UEA to develop education and raise awareness about alcohol usage, giving students strategies to help reduce any harmful impacts of substance use. At the SU we want you to have a great time with your friends and enjoy our bars and LCR, but we know sometimes it can be easy to feel pressure to drink more than you want to, or you can find that alcohol or drugs are getting in the way of your relationships or studies.

Watch this space! We're working hard to develop new campaigns, resources and events in 2025.

Myth Busting

Myth: "Beer before wine or wine before beer?"

BUSTED! It is the amount of alcohol you consume that will affect how you feel, rather than the specific order of drinks.

Myth: "Coffee & water will sober me up at the end of the night!"

BUSTED! The only thing that will sober you up is simply giving it time to get out of your system. Water will help with the hangover the next day though so grab a glass before bed.

Myth: "Students at university get drunk all of the time."

BUSTED! Whilst some students choose to get drunk on occasions, only 9% of students intentionally get drunk more than once a week and a further 25% choose to not drink at all.

Myth: "Cocaine & alcohol cancel each other out!"

BUSTED! When you mix cocaine and alcohol, your body produces cocaethylene. This product is stronger than both cocaine and alcohol, and increases the risk of sudden death. Always check the interactions between the drugs you're mixing.

For more information on common drug and alcohol myths, click the button below.

Find out more

National Student Survey 2024

We have partnered with SOS UK to find out student attitudes and experiences with drugs and alcohol at university.

The more students who complete this survey, the better we can understand the approach you would like us to take as a Union and build a supportive culture in our community. Neither uea(su) or UEA will be provided any personal or identifiable data collected as part of this survey.

The 2024 survey will be available to complete from 18th November to 8th December

Take the survey

Drugs and You

We understand that sometimes people experiment with substances and no amount of condemnation will stop this entirely. Our primary focus is your wellbeing and making sure that you are safe. Taking drugs always carries a risk and can potentially be harmful.

If you do choose to take drugs please bear in mind the following points:

Start low, go slow - Start with a small dose & wait until you’ve been feeling the effects for at least 2 hours before redosing. Remember drugs are becoming more & more potent & are not instantaneous, so resist the urge to re-dose too quickly.
Avoid mixing drugs - Avoid mixing different drugs, especially with alcohol. Drugs could react together in a bad way & produce long-term health consequences. This is also a way to overdose.
Stay hydrated with non-alcoholic drinks - Remember to sip non-alcohol drinks throughout the evening, but don’t drink more than a pint an hour.
There are NO set doses - Age, weight, gender, ethnic background & even how tired you are can play a part in drug metabolism. Your friend’s dose may not be the right one for you.
Avoid using drugs when depressed or anxious - Taking drugs can make these feelings worse, either during the drug taking itself or as an effect of the comedown.
Don't be afraid to seek help - Do seek help from staff or emergency services and be honest about what drugs you have taken. If your friend is unwell, stay with them until help comes.

You can find all this information in the document below:

Find out more

A Night To Remember Is Coming Back!

A Night to Remember is the campaign which aims to promote all the things clubs and societies can do which aren't alcohol-centred and avoid the subsequent drinking culture universities can sometimes be associated with.

The campaign provides education on the impact of alcohol to your health, plus practical ideas to help students who don't drink alcohol to feel included and engaged at social events.

This isn’t us saying stop all socials involving alcohol, we’re just encouraging you to make your socials inclusive and accessible to a wider range of students and take the focus away from drinking and more towards just making sure your members can have a good time.

A Night To Remember will be relaunching in 2025 with new information, new ideas and the great same support to ensure that everyone can have the best experience at UEA.

We're currently working on our new campaign, but check out the previous A Night to Remember resources here!

Drug and Alcohol Awareness Week 2025

We're developing a calendar of events and activities that don't involve alcohol - keep an eye on our socials for when this launches. In the meantime, did you know that you can filter all uea(su) events to show alcohol-free activities and programmes? Click here to give it a go.

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Links and Resources

Keep an eye on our socials for new information and events!

Alcohol Change UK Drug and Alcohol Impact National Student Alcohol and Drug Survey A Night To Remember (2022 booklet) 5 Areas of Self-Care Drugs and You Self-Care Challenges Making Friends Without Alcohol What Is Spiking? Alcohol Poisoning advice(su) UEA Student Support