BNNVARA’s successful YouTube channel Drugslab is coming to an end. That’s what the three presenters Nellie, Bastiaan and Dzifa recently announced in a new video on their channel. This week, Drugslab hit the historic milestone of 1 million subscribers, making it the Dutch public broadcaster’s most popular online channel. The YouTube channel, which is the primary place people in the Netherlands and all over the globe can turn to with questions about drugs, will remain online as an archive. In the upcoming weeks, another special will be added to the Drugslab channel: a triptych about ayahuasca.

The BNNVARA programme Spuiten en Slikken set up Drugslab to offer a YouTube channel where young people can find impartial, honest information about drugs. Over the last 3.5 years, the three Drugslab presenters tested almost all the drugs that are used regularly in the Netherlands. Their mission to tell young people what drugs do to your body is accomplished. BNNVARA continues to educate about and explore the world of drugs in Spuiten en Slikken.

National and international hit
Drugslab became a massive hit, not just in the Netherlands but all over the globe, with viewers from 157 countries. During the last 3.5 years, the presenters made 192 episodes, and tested drugs in 100 of them. The channel clocked up a total of 321,783,209 viewing minutes. Bastiaan tested the most drugs, trying 37 different ones, with Nellie a close second with 32 and Dzifa 12.

Drugslab was the world’s first YouTube channel where the presenters took drugs on camera so they could share their findings with viewers. From XTC to Xanax and from speed to San Pedro: presenters Nellie, Bastiaan, Dzifa and ex-presenter Rens tried them all, and described the effects the different drugs had on them. Some experiences were positive, others negative, but the presenters shared them all. What started as a small-scale channel under the wings of Spuiten en Slikken, which aimed to give reliable information about how to use drugs safely, has exploded into a hugely successful channel that’s gained an incredible one million subscribers.