Know your poison: the festival chemical safety net

Learning about drugs is an important part of the national curriculum. Some students go on to experiment with drugs, and their lack of knowledge makes them vulnerable. This article approaches a legally and medically sensitive topic from an analytical chemistry viewpoint. It discusses many topics covered in intermediate and advanced level chemistry courses including chemical and spectroscopic analysis. It provides one interesting context to these topics and highlights ethical issues scientists can face. Pupils preparing for interviews for medicine, pharmacy or other areas where confident discussion of the ethical considerations of scientific thought and action is desired may find this useful.

The article includes downloadable worksheets, experiments and other teaching resources.