Lambeth council bans legal high drugs
The borough of Lambeth has become the first in London to implement a ban on the use of legal high drugs.
Lambeth Council has approved the implementation of a Public Spaces Protection Order that will prohibit the use and sale of legal high drugs borough-wide. Any person caught using or supplying the substances could face a fine of up to £1,000.
The new protection order comes after a series of complaints made to Lambeth Council during the past year with regard to the use of legal highs and specifically nitrous oxide, which is also known as laughing gas. Laughing gas is thought to have been responsible for the death of a teenager on Sunday at a south-east London party. There have allegedly been 57 police incidents, including sexual assault, robbery and anti-social behaviour, with links to the use of legal high substances.
Jane Edbrooke, a Lambeth councillor, said: “Legal highs are simply not safe ‒ we saw that just days ago with the death of a teenager who had inhaled laughing gas. It is our duty to keep our residents safe and this new order should deter people from supplying and using legal highs in the borough.”
The Public Spaces Protection Order will come into force on 17th August. The Lambeth ban is the second ban to be put into practice in the UK, with the first in Lincoln in April. The government has plans to introduce a blanket ban on all legal highs, including nitrous oxide.