On the second day of the Leicester Mercury’s investigation into the scale and nature of drug use in the city, crime correspondent Ciaran Fagan looks at the market for so-called ‘legal highs’. They are the so-called 'party' drugs which are ruining lives and leaving police and governments struggling to keep up with the constantly changing underground market.
The chemical-based substances – most prominently mephedrone, or MCAT – became known collectively as legal highs because those who bought or took them were committing no crimes. The market was so dynamic that governments across Europe were continually playing catch up in the race to outlaw them. Users reported a series of unpleasant side effects ranging from psychosis and heart palpitations to burning throats, nose bleeds and insomnia. And one by one, most prominently mephedrone and naphyrone, were banned.
A recent Government report, however, identified 40 or more new substances which appeared in the UK last year. Another, a variant of the horse tranquilliser called methoxetamine, has been linked to the deaths of two people in Leicester and Melton earlier this year.
The Government is currently considering banning it.
