Parents of dead teenager call for legal high ban

The parents of a teenage boy whose body was found lying outside a property on Monday have called for a ban on legal highs.

Adam Owens, 17, from County Down was discovered lying on the grass outside a residence on the Westwinds estate in Bristol Park, Newtownards. An ambulance was called but Adam was pronounced dead soon after arriving at the hospital. His parents believe that the long-term use of legal high drugs led to the death of their son.

Adam had been using legal high drugs for three years, changing him “from a happy intelligent young man into a suicidal teenager”. His family had tried to help him to overcome his addiction to the substances and his parents say that the drugs had caused Adam to contemplate suicide, to self-harm and to be unable to think clearly. He had also run into trouble with the police and had been hospitalised several times because of legal highs.

Adam’s father Carl Owen and his stepmother Dawn Carlile are calling for legal high drugs to be banned and want drug agencies to cooperate and provide support to teenagers in situations similar to those Adam experienced. They were told that there is currently no drug support system for those aged under 18.

A post-mortem is still to be carried out on Adam’s body and police are continuing to investigate his death; however, Carl and Dawn are convinced that legal high drugs were the cause.