Prisons to face ban on legal high drugs

Prisons in England and Wales are facing a ban on legal high drugs, as well as prescription drugs, in a crackdown by the government.

The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, made a speech at the thinktank Centre for Social Justice on Monday that established a link between the significant rise of violence within prisons and the use of legal highs. He told his audience that a zero-tolerance approach will be taken by the government to stamp out the use of the legal high drugs.

The crackdown follows the request made by Home Office minister Lynne Featherstone for MPs to support the ban on two new legal highs, also known as new psychoactive substances. The drugs she wants to see banned for sale are 4,4’-DMAR, which is commonly known as Serotoni, and MT-45, which is not currently available in the UK. Serotoni has been linked to 37 deaths throughout the UK, most of which occurred in Northern Ireland, with MT-45 linked to deaths in the US and Europe.

The chief inspector of prisons, Nick Hardwick, has already spoken about drugs that act as synthetic cannabis, such as Black Mamba and Spice. These drugs, which have both been made illegal, are highly popular amongst prison inmates. Mr Hardwick also stated that prescription painkillers such as pregabalin and gabapentin are being used in a recreational manner by prisoners.

Whilst illegal drug use has actually decreased in prisons over the last two decades, the seizures of legal highs has risen dramatically from 133 in 2012 to 430 in 2014.