ISSUES
: Drugs
Chapter 1: Drug issues
18
‘Legal highs’ incidents up more than 150
per cent in a year, say police
The Centre for Social Justice has uncovered new data revealing the increasing
damage ‘legal highs’ are having on society.
T
he number of police incidents involving ‘legal
highs’ has almost trebled across England in a
year, new figures obtained by the Centre for
Social Justice (CSJ) reveal.
Incidents soared across forces – from 1,356 in 2013
to 3,652 in 2014 (an increase of 169 per cent). But the
overall number will be much higher as 12 of England’s
39 police forces did not respond to the freedom of
information request, including the Metropolitan Police.
In Greater Manchester the number increased 17-fold in
two years, from six in 2012 – to 104 last year.
In West Yorkshire there was a 25-fold increase over the
same period – from 13 to 324.
The CSJ has called for a robust response from the
Government, including new police powers to close
shops that persist in selling ‘legal highs’ (or New
Psychoactive Substances).
This comes after recent CSJ analysis showed that the
number of people in treatment for taking ‘legal highs’
jumped 216 per cent in England in the last five years.
The number of deaths associated with the use of ‘legal
highs’ increased from 12 in 2009 to 97 in 2012 in the
UK. In Scotland alone there were 113 deaths related to
‘legal highs’ in 2013.
“As well as posing worrying health risks, these figures
suggest ‘legal highs’ are placing increasing pressure
on public services,” said former CSJ Director Christian
Guy.
“It is too easy for young people to walk into high street
shops and buy these drugs – many of them as dangerous
and addictive as Class A substances.
“If we want to start responding to the problems caused by
‘legal highs’ we need to clamp down on those making a
living out of selling them.”
The CSJ said the UK has the
highest number of ‘legal highs’
users amongst young people in
Europe.
It has called for police and
courts to be given new powers
to close ‘head shops’ that sell
many of the substances.
It wants the Government to
implement legislation similar to
a scheme run in Ireland, where
authorities slashed the number
of ‘head shops’ from more than
100 to less than ten within a
month.
9 February 2015
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The above information
is reprinted with kind
permission from The
Centre For Social Justice.
Please
visit
www.
centreforsocialjustice.org.
uk for further information.
© The Centre for Social
Justice 2016
“The number of police incidents
involving ‘legal highs’ has almost
trebled across England in a year”
“The CSJ said the UK has the
highest number of ‘legal highs’ users
amongst young people in Europe”
