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Legal Highs

What are Legal Highs?

• Legal highs are substances used like illegal drugs such as cocaine or cannabis, but not covered by current misuse of drugs laws

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Also known as……

• 4-MMC, Bounce, Bubbles, • Charge, Drone, M-Cat, • MC, Meow Meow, Meph, • Miaow, White Magic.

Mephedrone

The Crazy Chemist concocted

mephedrone in his lab last year

to mimic ecstasy and coke. This

‘legal high’ was sold as ‘plant food’

as a way of getting around the law.

It was a nice little earner until it

was found to bring on paranoia,

overstimulation of the heart and

nervous system and even fits,

so the government

banned it.

Mephedrone and the law

• Mephedrone is a Class B drug – so it’s illegal to have for yourself, give away or sell.

• Possession is illegal and can get you up to five years in jail and/or an unlimited fine.

• Supplying someone else, even your friends, can get you fourteen years in jail

and/or an unlimited fine.

Michael, 24, became the first person in Britain to die after taking Ivory Wave

The body of the 33-year-old Guy Ebsworth was found

More sad news as Police confirm this afternoon that a body found on Friday (13th) in Newport on the Isle of Wight was that of missing man Guy Ebsworth.

Drug users in Lancashire are turning to cheap stimulants known as "bubble" to get legal highs

A promising medical student Hester Stuart has been found dead

• Rebecca Cardwell was only 19 when she died after using the party drug

Ivory Wave

Almost a dozen people have been admitted to hospital in Cumbria in recent weeks after apparently using the "legal high" drug Ivory Wave

Legal Highs: The Facts

Legal highs can carry serious health risks. The chemicals they contain have in most cases never been used in drugs for human consumption before, so haven't been tested to show that they are safe. Users can never be certain what they are taking and what the effects might be

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Effects to the user

• It is most often snorted in powder form but can also be obtained in pills and capsules.

• Side-effects include headaches, palpitations, nausea, high blood pressure, a burning throat, nose bleeds and purple joints, especially the knees and hands.

Senior forensic scientist Dr. Phil Yates tests the chemical compounds of drugs for the police. He explains why taking a so-called

legal high can be extremely risky

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbv1G8rjpiA