Warnings about ‘legal highs’ as use soars

East Riding council is launching an awareness-raising campaign to highlight the risks of “new psychoactive substances.”

Earlier this year police warned that use of stimulants was “widespread” in some East Riding pubs, including in villages.

Swabs taken in pub toilets have revealed cocaine, sold cheap at £25 per gramme, but believed to be heavily cut with psychoactive substances, to mimic the narcotic’s stimulant effect.

One of the problems is that “legal highs” often turn out to be “illegal lows” - containing banned substances and also powerful depressants or strong hallucinogens.

A 2011 study showed of seven “legal highs” brought online, six didn’t contain what was advertised and five contained banned controlled drugs.

Last year the mother of landscape gardener Richard Oates, of Market Weighton, warned of the dangers of buying drugs online after he died aged 28 from drugs misuse. Packages from all over the world, including the Netherlands and Poland, were found in his room.

A post mortem examination showed he had morphine in his blood, possibly from elicit opium use.

The campaign will involve leaflets and posters being distributed in pubs, clubs, youth services and libraries, with a QR code on the posters, which can be scanned with a mobile phone to give access to a council website advice page.

East Riding Council’s substance misuse manager, Tony Margetts, said: “We’ve been concerned for some time about ‘legal highs’. We have seen a rise in these sort of drugs as reported throughout all our sources of intelligence, including ex-drug users and those accessing drugs and alcohol treatment services, as well as police and licensing officers who are starting to see the effects in the night-time economy.

Mr Margetts said one of his main concerns was that people simply didn’t know what they were taking and a lot of the drugs were going untested.

New products are coming out all the time - including older “research” chemicals, as well as brand-new designed drugs and fakes containing little or no psychoactive substances.

Mr Margetts said there could be literally hundreds on the market - and hundreds more in development: “If they are inventing drugs quicker than we are developing tests we can’t stay ahead of the game. All the things we normally do with drugs - banning drugs, going after dealers and trying to catch people - none are going to be particularly effective.

“We are not going to be able to ban them quick enough, the dealing has moved online and you can’t catch people because you can’t test for them.

“People have got to start thinking: ‘This is a chemical I am taking.’ This is not a question of whether it is illegal or not. Is it sensible to take these drugs?

“There are some real perils - they do seem to change peoples’ behaviour.

“They are unpredictable - people get into fights, they take risks, they may be linked to unsafe sexual behaviour. If people start feeling really lethargic, depressed and lacking in energy two or three days after a weekend on stimulants they should realise that it is connected with stimulant use.”

New psychoactive substances are usually sold on internet sites as plant food, bath salts or herbal remedies.

They may be labelled ‘not for human consumption’. Used alongside alcohol, experts warn that NPS pose even greater risks to health and should be avoided.

Dr Tim Allison, Director of Public Health said: “Many people taking these substances believe that they are taking something safe since the substances

are sold as being legal.

“This misconception is putting the public at risk as these substances are often produced with illegal ingredients.

“Also, as they are not tested we do not know what the long-term side effects of using these substances may be. In the short term many side effects have already been identified which are harming the health of users.”

To speak to a Young People’s Substance Misuse Worker email [email protected] or call 01482 392200. Alternatively email [email protected] or telephone: 01482 392824