Students are still taking legal highs
A recent report revealed that as many as one in five university students have admitted to taking legal highs. Freshers are often at greatest risk, as the desire to quickly be accepted and make new friends tempts many of them to experiment with drugs.
One of the biggest hurdles for health advisors is convincing students that legal highs are just as dangerous as any other drug. Many people still assume that because a drug is not illegal it must be safe. This is certainly not the case. In fact, some health experts believe that legal highs can be even more dangerous than the high produced by Class A drugs.
The study asked first year students at one university in southern England if they had taken any legal highs and 19 per cent said that they had tried at least one. It highlighted how available drugs are now – 36 per cent of students questioned said that they had been offered drugs and 61 per cent of students have a friend that has taken legal highs.
Legal highs are designed to mimic the effects of Class A and Class B drugs such as cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine by combining substances that have not been banned by the government. Most of the drugs on the UK market are manufactured in the Far East and then imported. Manufacturers have become skilled in altering the drugs in such a way that they continue to be legal.
In 2013, 80 new designer drugs were identified in Europe. Each of these was a slight modification on a drug that had been banned. These modifications mean that drug-testing kits are often unable to detect the presence of a banned substance, and this makes detecting abuse almost impossible.
Dealers are still able to legally sell these drugs using a loophole in the law. So long as they are advertised as fit for human consumption, there is nothing to stop a dealer selling them in shops, on market stalls and at festivals. Many are sold under the disguise of research chemicals, plant food, bath crystals and pond cleaner.
Any person knowingly selling them to children or advertising them as designer drugs can be prosecuted – however, most dealers understand the law and avoid prosecution.
Legal highs are usually most dangerous when they are combined with alcohol. People are far more likely to give in to temptation when they are drunk, and this is precisely when they are at greatest risk.
Figures from the UN Office of Drugs and Crime indicate that the UK is the highest consumer of legal highs in Europe, with over 670,000 young adults having taken them at some point.
New campaigns are being launched to raise awareness of the dangers of legal highs. The Angelus Foundation is currently running campaigns to raise awareness of legal highs and club drugs. They state that: “children may unwittingly be playing Russian Roulette with their lives.”
It is not clear how the problem of legal highs can be resolved without government intervention. Greater penalties for importing and selling substances that are used as legal highs may help, but with many people now ordering them online, shutting down shops will not remove them completely from society.