Yeovil shop owner works with police against legal highs

A shop owner in Yeovil has voluntarily stopped selling a legal high drug in an effort to help police fight against the increasing use of the dangerous substances.

Kirstin Parsons, owner of Braddicks ‒ a tobacco shop on Middle Street ‒ has removed one such substance, known as Pandora’s Box, from her shelves. She is working alongside the police in Yeovil to draw up a list of local residents who will be banned from purchasing any other legal highs still available. Ms Parsons wants to be able to stop selling the legal highs altogether.

Sergeant Pete Paskin is leading the police crackdown operation. He stressed that the legal high drugs freely available in shops such as Braddicks are highly dangerous and added that Ms Parsons agreed to sign a statement of intent claiming she is willing to cooperate with the police in this regard. Ms Parsons said she consults with the police on every item for sale in her shop, that she only sells to people aged 18 and over, and that her policy works because there have been no incidences of anti-social behaviour outside her premises.

Sergeant Paskin said: “Since we have been working with Kirstin, over the last three or four months, Yeovil police have had no problems involving call-outs to people committing anti-social behaviour fuelled by legal highs – I would call that a success.”

Whilst Ms Parsons would prefer not to sell legal high drugs, she claims that she would go out of business if she withdrew them.