Nothing is perfectly safe but the least risk would be not torrenting and paying for Usenet binaries (or sharing drives with friends?)
As far as torrenting goes, reducing your risk is probably best done with a VPN but I wouldn’t know who’s really trustworthy (surely it’s in the megathread though?) - won’t be free, though.
Lechers aren’t all bad, you’re still contributing while it’s active. When you’re situation changes, it sounds like you’re behaviour will, so live and let live, cuz…
(I’m fairness, my wife is a leech and I’m not, but it depends on who gets to deluge first…)