The drug market in the UK is evolving rapidly, and not in a good way. Substances are more widely available, more unpredictable and more dangerous than ever before – everything from synthetic opioids and cannabinoids to contaminated ketamine and stimulants. This has meant that people who use drugs are forced to navigate a landscape full of unknowns, and in many cases they’re doing so without reliable information.
In drug and alcohol services, we regularly see the barriers that prevent people from accessing support. For many, it’s not as simple as walking into a service and asking for help. Stigma and shame are powerful deterrents, and so is the fear of being judged and criminalised.
That’s where the idea for Drugbot came from. Drugbot is a free, confidential AI chatbot that can help to answer questions about drugs and respond to simple or more complex queries with accurate harm reduction advice. It’s the result of a partnership between Cranstoun and Substancy, which comes from our shared values and belief that people should have access to information to help them make safer choices in an increasingly dangerous world.
We know that not everybody is ready, able or willing to stop using drugs – while that may be the safest option, it isn’t the reality for many people. Drugbot can help to reduce some of those harms and risky behaviours with harm reduction advice in the meantime.
The bot can offer guidance on dosage, aftercare, mixing risks and signs of overdose, and it can also provide advice on how to look out for other people who might be using drugs. It draws on a rich database of accurate information and sources – including from peer-led organisations and other experts – curated by the Substancy team.
Every record has been rigorously reviewed and approved by a team of experts in drug treatment, harm reduction and health services. In its development stages, Drugbot answered more than 20,000 real questions, helping people to stay safer and make better decisions. But we know that this tool could be a real lifeline for people who are unlikely to access traditional drug treatment services.
We’ve embedded crucial safety features into Drugbot – these include measures that ensure that the bot won’t provide any information which could lead to or encourage illegal activity. Where questions around riskier drug taking are identified, the bot helps to suggest reflection on that risk without judgment or lecturing while promoting safe, harm reduction practices. This balance is crucial to the success of Drugbot.
Reducing and breaking down that barrier of the fear of being judged or seen has also been important. People can ask questions privately, whenever they need to, with no one watching and no assumptions made. It’s a way of giving people space and agency, which can often help when it comes to accessing further support.

To be clear, Drugbot is not about replacing human-led care and support. It is designed to be a complement to – not a substitute for – face-to-face drug and alcohol services. In fact, the chat bot is designed to encourage people to seek further help from drug treatment services where appropriate. Our goal is to ease that first step and ensure that drug services aren’t left behind by a world that increasingly communicates through screens.
We also know that Drugbot must keep improving. Feedback from people who use the tool will shape its development, and as new substances and threats emerge, Drugbot will be able to provide advice to meet those needs.
This is the future of harm reduction – smart, responsive tools that work alongside human compassion to reduce risk and save lives. If even one person reconsiders a decision, avoids a dangerous mixture of substances and activity, or reaches out for help because of Drugbot, then it’s doing its job. We believe it will do more than that – we’re optimistic that it will change the way that people access support and reduce the harms caused by drugs at scale.
Everyone deserves access to accurate, non-judgemental information free of stigma, Drugbot is helping to deliver that.
Meg Jones is director of new business and services at Cranstoun
Mark Tudor is strategic partnerships and delivery excellence at Substancy
Drugbot is now available in the UK for anyone aged 18 and over: drugbot.cranstoun.org