Britain is being flooded with dozens of potentially lethal new ‘legal highs’ every year, experts warned last night.
Some 40 new drugs were discovered last year, but police are powerless to stop their sale because they fall outside existing bans.
Experts said users were playing ‘Russian roulette’ with their lives by taking drugs bought on the internet without knowledge of their potential impact.
The number of ‘legal highs’ appearing in Britain has shot up from just 13 in 2008 to 28 in 2009 and 40 last year, according to figures compiled by the European Drug Monitoring Centre.
Ministers have pledged to update drugs laws to stop unscrupulous chemists dodging bans.
Rules which would allow new legal highs to be outlawed as soon as they hit the streets are currently before Parliament.
They would implement temporary restrictions while the Government’s scientific advisors conducted a full review.
This would mean drugs could be stamped out early before their use becomes widespread, ministers say.
The proposals were drawn up by the Tories in opposition after controversy surrounding mephedrone, or meow meow.
Labour was accused of dithering over a ban on the drug, which has been linked to a string of deaths.
Currently new drugs are created in back-street laboratories in China as quickly as they can be banned in the UK.
They are designed to mimic the effects of Class A drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy while having enough differences in terms of their chemical make-up that they do not fall within existing bans.
In recent months researchers have discovered a new form of crystal meth and a substitute for ketamine, a horse tranquiliser used to induce hallucinations.
Another new substance is A3A – a powder similar to mephedrone which can cause panic attacks, a quickened heart rate and even psychosis.
John Ramsey, a toxicologist at St George’s University of London hospital, examines substances which can be bought online and those found in ‘drug amnesty’ bins in nightclubs.
He warned that the new compounds were both potentially lethal and could cause long-term health problems.
‘There are a tremendous number of new compounds coming on the market,’ Dr Ramsey said.
‘We don’t know how long the effects last, how potent they are, what the appropriate dose is, and we don’t know how toxic they are.’
Ken Checinski, medical director at drug treatment charity Addaction, said: ‘There is also an assumption that because something is legal, it is also safe. This is not the case.
‘People are playing Russian roulette with the physical and psychological effects of these drugs.’
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The new legislation will enable police to confiscate
suspected substances and the UK Border Agency to seize shipments entering the country.’
