New psychoactive substances or legal highs are becoming a major problem in the North East of England. The effects of legal highs are showing up more and more in the media with shocking headlines in the press such as: "Woman sexually assaulted in own home by teenager who had taken legal highs." The message from Durham Constabulary is that just because legal highs are legal doesn't mean they are safe.
Here are some headlines which have featured in the North East press:
Newcastle's west end is plagued by legal high users - Chronicle Live
Legal high use as serious as 1990s heroin epidemic, it's claimed - Chronicle Live
Seven rushed to hospital as police shut down Fenham premises - Chronicle Live
Newcastle catering firm 'selling legal highs' - BBC
Newcastle teen spent two lessons sprawled on floor of school toilet after using legal highs - Chronicle Live
Legal high use as serious as 1990s heroin epidemic, it's claimed - Chronicle Live
Seven rushed to hospital as police shut down Fenham premises - Chronicle Live
Newcastle catering firm 'selling legal highs' - BBC
Newcastle teen spent two lessons sprawled on floor of school toilet after using legal highs - Chronicle Live
While the problem on Tyneside is not mirrored in County Durham, Durham Constabulary has launched an awareness campaign to make sure that this doesn't happen.
What happens when you take a Legal High?
Here are some words from users of Legal Highs.
NECA is the North East Council on Addictions and helps those who are addicted to drugs, including legal highs or New Psychoactive Substances, in getting off the drugs and into treatment. These are some quotes from some of the users of the service about legal highs.
"I FELT LIKE I WAS DYING AND COULDN'T MOVE"
"Horrible, dying experience, lost colour in face, sickness, lost ability to move"
"It should be definitely banned because it has killed people"
"Paranoid, horrible and scared, thought someone was going to kill me"
"I would never use it again and have told other people not to use it" SPICE
"I used it but didn't like it - I have only ever used amphetamine" MCAT
"Felt weird - would never take it again, did not like it" SPICE
Here are facts about what Legal Highs are and what they can do.
'Legal highs' that are actually legal contain one or more chemical substances which produce similar effects to illegal drugs but can be ten times stronger.
Britain was one of the largest markets for legal highs in Europe with 670,000 people aged 15-24 experimenting with them. – UN World Drug Report, 2015.
The substances are often sold in "head shops" alongside drug paraphernalia.
A total of 81 new psychoactive substances, also labelled designer drugs, were reported in 2013, up from 73 the previous year
Around 700 websites will happily supply different types of Legal Highs to anyone without giving health warnings.
In 2014, AIF’s ‘Don’t Be In The Dark’ campaign involved over 20 music festivals participating in an online blackout, which saw the homepages on their respective official websites replaced for 24 hours by a message highlighting the dangers of legal highs.
Nearly 10% of 15 to 24 year-olds in Britain have used legal highs, twice the European average of 5%.
The addiction risks of Legal Highs are unknown. Legal highs such as Ketamine have recently been found to cause problems with the bladder.
The "legal" label doesn’t mean that it’s certified, pure or tested. It simply means it hasn’t been classified as a dangerous drug so far.
Drug takers, especially young ones, truly believe that these substances are harmless because they hide behind the label of legal highs.
Legal Highs has caused the deaths of over 114 people in the UK alone in 2014/15 compared to just 4 deaths in 2009.
Mephedrone was a “popular” Legal High in 2010 and it is now the fourth most abused drug after cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy.
The Law
A new law, The Psychoactive Substances Act, came into effect on May 26 2016. This law is set to create a blanket ban on the supply, creation and selling of Legal Highs or any substance that alters your state of mind. There will be some exceptions to this law such as caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and medicinal products that are widely available.
This legislation will give police power to arrest those intending to sell these products which could result in a prison term of up to 7 years, this amount of prison sentence is similar to those selling class A drugs. Police are hoping that this will stop people dealing Legal Highs and also stop the rise of Legal Highs being created.
The Psychoactive Substances Act received Royal Assent on 28 January 2016. The act applies across the UK.
The act itself:
* Makes it an offence to produce, supply, offer to supply, possess with intent to supply, possess on custodial premises, import or export psychoactive substances; that is, any substance intended for human consumption that is capable of producing a psychoactive effect. The maximum sentence will be 7 years' imprisonment
* Excludes legitimate substances, such as food, alcohol, tobacco, nicotine, caffeine and medical products from the scope of the offence, as well as controlled drugs, which continue to be regulated by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971
* Exempts healthcare activities and approved scientific research from the offences under the act on the basis that persons engaged in such activities have a legitimate need to use psychoactive substances in their work
* Includes provision for civil sanctions – prohibition notices, premises notices, prohibition orders and premises orders (breach of the two orders will be a criminal offence) – to enable the police and local authorities to adopt a graded response to the supply of psychoactive substances in appropriate cases
* Provides powers to stop and search persons, vehicles and vessels, enter and search premises in accordance with a warrant, and to seize and destroy psychoactive substances
* Can only serve prison sentence of 7 years if caught with intent to supply, deal or sell these products willingly.
* The bill can’t effect anything that is used wholesale as legal highs (Butane Gas etc.) doesn’t crack down on those people who recreationally take them and affect their own health and lives.
* However, if caught with the NPS’ and say something such as "I was holding them for a friend" that would count as intent to supply. Along with paraphernalia such as Cling Film, sealed bags, scales.
Posters with Power
Art students from Graphic Design at Darlington College worked alongside Durham Constabulary to send out a message to their peers and the general public about the dangers of Legal Highs. Designs by students from the college have been turned into warning posters to be used across Darlington and County Durham. The students worked to a brief provided by the police to come up with artwork to warn people about the dangers of legal highs.
We conducted a survey with college students to see what they know about Legal Highs and the new law.
These results show that two thirds of students know what Legal Highs are which shows that the knowledge of legal highs has grown considerably since the creation and mass sale of these drugs. Two thirds of students have been exposed to Legal Highs and the effects.
If you personally or somebody you know is being effected by the use of Legal Highs or drug abuse there is a lot of help available provided by the government and your local area. The help and advice that you get is completely confidential and potentially life changing.
Drug Helplines
FRANK - www.talktofrank.com 0300 123 6600
Switch Team/NECA Darlington - 01325 267 230
Release - 0845 4500 215
Families Anonymous - 0845 1200 660
