Legal highs have been in the news again this week – a number of people have suffered dangerous side-effects after smoking the latest batch of herbal incenses to be sold in head shops and online around the country.
Earlier this month legal highs such as “Black mamba,” “Mary Jory,” and other “herbal highs,” were reclassified in Britain becoming a class B drug. This made them illegal and they were taken off the shelves of shops and online stores all over Britain. Class B drugs also includes cannabis and possession of either of these drugs can carry a lengthy prison sentence.
Legal highs are becoming increasingly common amongst teenagers. Whilst these smoking mixtures are sold as “herbal incense,” and are not meant to be sold and routines, unscrupulous traders have been ignoring rules governing the sales of these dangerous substance and one market trader in Leeds was prosecuted this week after being caught selling them to 13-year-olds.
The most worrying aspect of these legal highs is that no one knows exactly what’s in them. They are vaguely labelled and may contain synthetic cannabinoids which are described as innocuous “flavourings” or “aroma” on the packaging.
Trying to raise awareness about legal highs, Mitch Winehouse, of the Amy Winehouse foundation has launched the groundbreaking “resilience programme,” aiming at educating both teenagers and their parents alike about the dangers of substance abuse. The profile of drugs and drug use is constantly changing and education in schools needs to reflect that. Better drug education today could result in a reduction of addicts tomorrow.
Legal highs have exploded in popularity over the last few years, and they are very easy to obtain. Young professionals may favour these legal drugs over the legal alternatives as using them doesn’t carry the risk of breaking the law and even receiving a criminal record. Here it seems that some people throughout a high price on the freedom, but pay no attention to their health. No one knows what’s in these drugs. Users have reported distressing and dangerous side-effects and some of these could even be fatal. It seems a very big risk to take for the sake of getting “high.”
with no information available about the effects that these drugs have on long-term health, thrill seekers who use them are effectively guinea pigs. Legal highs are dangerous and should be avoided. If you or anyone you know have a problem with legal highs then seek help immediately because treatment is now available for this latest epidemic on our streets.