West Yorkshire Police’s drugs tsar has warned it’s only a matter of time before a batch of legal highs which could kill hits the streets of Leeds.
The force’s drugs co-ordinator, Bryan Dent, says the flood of synthetic substances, often imported from the far east, poses a “real challenge” to the criminal justice system.
The message comes as figures reveal that one in 10 UK youngsters has tried a legal high, most of which are available online and on many high streets.
It also comes as increasing numbers of people suffer the unpredictable and often severe side effects of taking the cheap hits.
Rod McPhee looks at the potentially deadly substances for sale in Leeds.
It’s 3pm on a weekday in the heart of Leeds and there’s a long stream of people going in and out of Dr Herman’s Pipe Shop on Vicar Lane.
After taking £30 out of the nearby cash machine we enter the store and ask for some Black Mamba, a synthesised version of cannabis, and one of a growing group of legal highs currently causing the criminal justice system serious concern.
“It’s not for human consumption,” says the woman behind the counter, “and it hasn’t been researched or tested.”
After noting this warning we hand over £10 for a one gramme sachet of the green-coloured, leafy substance. If we’d have purchased it in larger amounts we could have paid as little as £8.30 for a gramme.
The shop isn’t breaking the law by selling it, and we aren’t breaking any laws buying it. That’s because saying it isn’t for human consumption, and because it hasn’t yet been classified under the Misuse of Drugs Act, means possession is entirely lawful.
