‘Legal highs’ set to be banned

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Title – ‘Legal highs’ set to be banned
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 25th August 2009

This is a story we first commented on in May:

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Move to outlaw two 'party' drugs

It seems that after some deliberation the government is set to make the move to classify ‘BZP’, ‘GLB’ and ‘Spice’, with the suggestion currently being that they will become Class C drugs and therefore carry penalties of up to 2 years imprisonment for possession and 14 years for supply.

This strategy allows the government and authorities to immediately close the ‘legal’ supply of these drugs through the internet and ‘specialist’ outlets. In reality this ‘easy’ supply route will close relatively quickly as those people who tend to supply these products are generally the type that like to stay just on the right side of the law; hence why the products were developed in the first place. They will no doubt direct their efforts at creating replacement (slightly tweaked) product that takes them back onto the right side of the law and go back into production.

It is this continuous stream that governments need to keep on top of, rather than waiting for tragedy to occur before they act. The drug scene evolves all the time, it evolves to find cheaper routes to market, to provide drugs which suit the consumer and to set consumer trends. The supply of ‘Spice’ for example has already largely disappeared from the shops where it used to be freely purchased as the ‘suppliers’ have withdrawn in anticipation of the new spotlight being shined in their direction and high profile police raids; but note I use the word ‘withdrawn’ rather than ‘disappeared’, they will return with something new before long.

It is not just government and authorities who need to be aware of these new drug trends, businesses and organisations need to be aware of the effect these drugs have on their clients and service users and then knock-on effect they have on employees; both directly and indirectly through the often erratic behaviour of users.

Educating users tends not to be overly effective by government bodies who in the UK seem largely unable to be seen as anything but patronising; rather than as educators or providing proactive advice. In other parts of Europe positive education schemes have had some effect and the slightly ignorant view that any of these substances are entirely ‘safe’ has to a degree been dispelled.

BZP marketed as ‘Herbal Ecstasy’ by ‘dealers’ certainly sounds more appealing than the truth that it was trialled as a worming treatment for cows, but abandoned as it was unsafe for cattle, causing fits in some animals…

GBL marketed as ‘Liquid Ecstasy’ is a legal ‘substitute’ for GHB the drug of choice for some drug assisted rape perpetrators; it is derived from an industrial solvent used to strip paint and graffiti from walls and causes serious heart problems and seizures…

The key for those trying to understand and educate others is to rebrand these substances for what they really are, rather than allowing the ‘dealers’ free reign to name their products and use the loophole that they are legal to suggest they are safe.

They are legal because the government machine works considerably more slowly than the ‘dealers research & development’ teams.

At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for those working in the Licensed Retail Sector including The National Certificate for Licensees Drug Awareness (NCLDA). For other sectors our bespoke Drug Awareness (DA) courses, which examine illegal drugs, their effects and the drug litter synonymous with their use, are specifically designed to reflect the nature of our clients working environment. Our Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) course complements these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and drug related behaviour.

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