Hundreds still take ‘legal highs’ two years after sales ban

Hundreds of people needed hospital treatment in Tayside after taking so-called “legal highs” — despite their sale being banned almost two years ago.

Figures released by health bosses show 328 cases of people being treated for the effects of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in the region’s A&E departments from November 2016 to October last year.

The numbers are similar to the total for the previous 12 months, and higher than the year before that.

Treatment for people taking the drugs peaked between November 2012 and October 2013, when 352 people were seen at hospitals in Tayside.

Since then, the number of patients has varied between 288 and 332 a year.

NHS Tayside said none of the recorded admissions had been fatal.

Patient numbers have remained at a similar level, despite trading standards officers and police targeting shops selling the substances in May 2016 when new legislation came into force.

This has raised fears that the sale of the drugs has moved underground.

Dr Emma Fletcher, NHS Tayside’s consultant in public health medicine, said: “NPS can cause significant harm to people who take them and, as a result, they were made illegal in May 2016.

“To date, more than 600 different types of NPS have been identified in Europe.

“People who take NPS can never be certain of the actual content of the products, or the effect they might cause, so the advice is clearly not to use these substances. NPS are also more harmful when taken with other drugs, including other NPS, or alcohol.”