Legal high warning after ‘bubbles’ drug death

Legal high warning after ‘bubbles’ drug death

Mephedrone is also known as “bubbles” or “meow meow”

Police have issued a warning about the use of “legal highs” following the death of a woman in Dunfermline, Fife.

The 49-year-old is thought to have died after taking mephedrone, also known as “bubbles” or “meow meow”. The substance is often advertised as plant food.

A number of people also became ill in Methil after taking the substance known locally as “white magic”.

Police said legal highs such as solvents and plant food were dangerous because their effects were unknown.

The ambulance service was called to a house in Dunfermline on Saturday where a woman had collapsed after ingesting mephedrone.

She died a short time later in the town’s Queen Margaret Hospital.

In the Methil incident, one woman was taken to hospital as a precaution.

Risk of death

Ch Supt Alistair McKeen of Fife Police said: “Potential users of ‘legal highs’ need to be aware of the dangers associated with these substances, a number of which have industrial uses as solvents or even plant foods.

“There is very little scientific evidence about these substances and the effects are often unpredictable.

“Combining legal highs with other substances such as alcohol increases the risks and there is a very real risk of death.”

He advised people not to rely on the experience of users or sellers, and said the only sure way of being safe was not to experiment with these chemicals.

It is not illegal to buy mephedrone, although it is intended for use in plant food, not for human consumption.

But the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs is reviewing mephedrone as a priority and is expected to decide later this year whether or not the law should be changed.

Mephedrone is already illegal in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Israel, and is a controlled drug in Germany.

Call for mephedrone to be illegal..

Call for mephedrone to be illegal
Published online at 27/01/2010 18:31:08

Police have called for mephedrone to be made illegal, it’s been revealed.

In a written answer to a question in the House of Keys this week, Home Affairs Minister Adrian Earnshaw confirmed police wrote to his department late last year.

He says the Chief Constable wrote a letter and the Deputy Chief Constable sent an email last November asking for legislation to outlaw the legal high.

North Douglas MHK John Houghton put the question to Mr Earnshaw in Tuesday’s sitting, along with two other questions about the drug and the problems it’s causing.

Mr Houghton asked Health Minister Eddie Teare how many people the hospital has seen suffering the effects of mephedrone and how much it’s cost the NHS.

Mr Teare said nine people have been treated in the last month who were thought to have taken the drug, at a cost of around £5,500.

And in a second question to Home Affairs Minister Adrian Earnshaw, Mr Houghton asked how many people have been arrested for crimes whilst under the influence of mephedrone.

Mr Earnshaw said 43 people were arrested and one was charged with driving under the influence of the drug.

A group of students are sitting in a lounge…

The danger behind legal highs

January 26, 2010

Original aticle here

A group of students are sitting in a lounge, discussing their upcoming social schedule. “Nick’s been working overtime specifically to buy mephedrone,” says Tom, a 20 year-old English Literature student. “He says as soon as exams are over, he’s going to stick his nose in the bag and just go for it.” Everyone in the room laughs, and nobody seems unfamiliar with a substance that was unavailable just over a year ago.

Mephedrone is mostly compared to cocaine or MDMA, but is never quite described as being exactly the same as either of them. The effects are shorter in duration than both and not incompatible with drinking alcohol. Whilst it is available in liquid form, most users report snorting it in a powdered form, perhaps consuming orally occasionally.

“I first used mephedrone in October. A friend from London had bought some and was raving about it, so I decided to take the plunge,” says Rob, a 20 year old Politics and History student who shows me a small bag of it. “Since then I’ve done it probably five or six times, and every time it’s been well worth it. I know what happens when you overindulge in anything, and mephedrone is very moreish. Once you start you just want to use it all, so I don’t take more than a gram out with me. Plus if I use too much, my wallet stinks. It has a distinctive smell. I’m not sure what of, but it smells.”

Legal highs are in no way a new thing to Britain. Some drugs, such as salvia, have been available legally for years, whereas magic mushrooms for a long time have existed in legal limbo. Their mere possession was for a long time not a crime, providing that the person with them had not prepared them for consumption. Previously available in hundreds of shops across Britain, they were made illegal to possess in 2005, and their status as a Class A drug was instead enforced.

Mephedrone today stands in a comparable situation. While dramatically easier to consume and boasting a different array of experiences than mushrooms, the substance remains in a legally grey zone that does not expressly forbid sale in certain circumstances. Currently, the drug may not be sold for human consumption. Those looking to exploit the high demand choose to market it as plant food or for “research purposes”, whatever those may be.

Due to ease of access, it has exploded in popularity, and is now widely available in most student party environments across the country. “I don’t even really like drinking, the feeling of being drunk or the cheap club drinks themselves. So mephedrone was definitely a big thing for me. It means I can go out with my friends and not feel like I’m having a totally horrendous time,” says Tom. “I wouldn’t use it every day or anything like that though, just once or twice a week, if I am going to go out and depending where I’m going.”

He explains just how simple it is to acquire. “It’s so easy to get hold of, there’s so many websites. I send an order to them via the banks and they usually have it to me the next day as long as I get it in by a decent time in the day. If not then, it’ll come the day after.”

The surging popularity of the drug has created a certain amount of its own fallout however, as competitors that are already illegal, such as ecstasy, are perceived to have fallen dramatically in quality. One person in the room, Stuart, offers the advice “don’t buy any pills right now.” With a touch of confidence and experience in his voice, he informs me that between effective enforcement on MDMA and cocaine production in the UK, and the rise in popularity of an easily available alternative, most MDMA and cocaine is now “really, really low quality”. As a means of cheapening both, they are combined with other non-narcotic substances, which at best leads to poor value for money and at worst endangers the user.

As well as creating waves in the market for illegal drugs, the rise of mephedrone is quickly becoming a big ongoing story in the news. Legal highs have already been a tabloid favourite following the death of student Hester Stewart at the hands of an overdose on GBL in April 2009. Mephedrone is no stranger to creating exciting headlines either. The Daily Mail angrily reported on the death of a 14 year-old girl who had died after taking it with other drugs, despite coroners refusing to name a cause of death, while The Sun reported on a gruesome tale of a user ripping his own scrotum off.

When I spoke to Nick and Tom a few days later, they both seemed a bit less jovial about their use. “I’ll probably stop taking mephedrone for normal nights out. Last time scared me,” says Nick. Tom chips in, and informs me that “he took everything he had out with him in one line… when I saw him, he couldn’t speak and all his limbs were shaking. We gave him a joint, and I said “you need to calm down” and he takes one drag and then just fell over on us.”

It is rare that a substance which reaches any level of popularity is not eventually banned. The end of 2009 saw a number of substances, such as GBL, become Class C drugs.

Their possession now carries the potential of a two year prison sentence. Mephedrone and the family of chemicals it falls under, cathinones, will almost certainly come up when the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs convenes later this year to update the laws after a Home Office statement labelled it a “priority”.

While the banning of mephedrone does appear inevitable, it will not definitely stem the usage of legal highs. Some of the more famous illicit substances, such as MDMA and cannabis, already attract many legal imitators to mixed reviews.

“I took some fake E,” says Mary, a 22-year old student from Shropshire. “It wasn’t that bad, we did it at a really rainy festival and it was quite good at the time… it just didn’t feel very clean, the come down was definitely far worse than any good quality real ecstasy. The fake weed was awful though, it was like smoking oregano.”

Tom, on the other hand, has not tried imitation drugs, but legal highs that offer something a bit different. “I’ve done salvia. I really liked it. It gave me this really short time when I was just really out of my head, but it was a good feeling. I’d do it again.” Salvia is completely legal in the United Kingdom, and the few attempts to ban or legislate against have so far failed to gather any pace.

What is apparent though is that users of the drug are enjoying it while it is still around. “Mephedrone is going to get banned eventually, probably this year. But I may as well enjoy it while I can. After that something else will come along, it always does. It’ll get made illegal too eventually if it’s any good, sure, but… the point is, people are always going to get high off something.”

Death from Mephedrone? Wait for the toxicology report.

Teenager dies ‘after experimenting with legal drug meow meow’

By Andrew Levy
Last updated at 11:53 PM on 21st January 2010

A teenager died at a house party after experimenting for the first time with a dangerous drug available legally on the internet, friends said yesterday.

The body of Ben Walters, 18, was found sprawled beside a 28-year-old woman who is now fighting for her life in hospital.

Both are understood to have taken mephedrone, which is sold as a fertiliser but produces a similar euphoric high to ecstasy if ingested.

Missed: Ben Walters, 18, was found dead next to a critically ill woman friend, following a house party where he is believed to have taken legal drug mephedrone

The drug, which can be bought for as little as £4 a gram and comes in powder, tablet, crystal or liquid form, was first used on the club scene in 2007 and has nicknames including ‘meow meow’, ‘drone’ and ‘bubble’.

Paramedics and police were called to a £175,000 first floor flat in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, at 6pm on Tuesday and discovered Ben had already died.

The women, who is understood to be a friend, was rushed to Luton and Dunstable Hospital where she remained last night.

Torri Ivers, 16, a college friend of Ben’s, warned the public needed to be told about the dangers of mephedrone.

‘Nobody thinks it’s dangerous because it’s legal. It’s a substitute for heroin but you can get it over the internet,’ she said.

‘You can buy it in college because it’s cheap and nobody realises how bad it is until something happens. Nobody is taught enough about them.

Mephedrone, used as a fertiliser, can be bought legally over the internet

‘It was the first time Ben had ever taken drugs. He had a lot going for him and got good grades.

‘I can’t emphasise enough how much of a lovely, beautiful person he was. It’s not fair.’

Ben was studying drama at Amersham and Wycombe College and hoped to go Leeds University to do a media studies course.

Restaurant owner Alan Turtill, 33, who lives beside the modern two-storey red-brick block of 16 apartments where the teenager died, said residents had complained about loud parties in the flat and sent an email to the landlord in November.

He added: ‘There was noise coming from there at least once or twice a week on a regular basis, not just on the weekend.

‘There were rumours of drugs. I work late nights but I would see young people hanging around there at night time.

‘They were always playing loud dance music until three or four in the morning.’
Ben’s devastated friends posted emotional tributes on social networking site Facebook today.

Alecia Blair wrote: ‘It was an absolute pleasure to know you.

‘You were truly an amazing character and you will be thoroughly missed. Lots of love Ben. You were pure rock’n'roll.’

Dominique Leonard said: ‘Nobody had had enough of you just yet!’

Benjamin’s parents, Carol and Leon Walters, were too upset to comment at their home in Berkhamsted today.

Hertfordshire Police have ruled out any suggestion of a double suicide attempt or violent attack and said they were waiting for the results of a post-mortem examination and toxicology report.

Benjamin Walters was found dead in Priory Court in Berkhampstead, Herts, pictured. Friends of the teenager told how it was the first time he had ever taken the drug

A spokeswoman added: ‘Police were called following concerns for the welfare of two people in the property.

‘When officers arrived at the scene they discovered that an 18-year-old man had sadly died and a 28-year-old woman had been taken ill.

‘The man and woman are believed to be known to each other.

‘The woman was taken to Luton and Dunstable hospital where she remains in a critical but stable condition.’

A 17-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl were arrested on Thursday on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs.

A spokeswoman added: ‘They are currently in police custody awaiting interview.’

A spokeswoman for Amerhsam and Wycombe College said: ‘We offer our sincere condolences to the student’s family.’

Mephedrone is legal providing it is not processed or marketed for human consumption.

The outside of Mr Walter’s apartment in GV Priory Court in Berkhampstead, Herts

When used as a party drug the substance is generally taken orally. Side-effects including rapid heartbeat, mood swings and a purple discolouration of the skin, which can last for several weeks.

In November it was linked the death of 14-year-old Gabrielle Wood, from Worthing, West Sussex, although a post mortem gave the official cause of death as cardiac arrest and bronchopneumonia.

The Home Office said tests on Gabrielle Wood had revealed several substances in her body, including mephedrone.

A spokeswoman added: ‘We have commissioned the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to look at the harms and availability of ‘legal highs’.

‘They are currently looking at mephedrone, and related compounds, and their advice will inform our response.’

Last month the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the official government adviser on illicit substances, wrote to Home Secretary Alan Johnson about mephedrone and other ‘legal highs’.

It warned the potential harms of such drugs were still unknown but they ‘could have serious public health implications’.

The council is currently researching mephedrone’s effects and is expected to advise Mr Johnson to make it illegal under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Great article. Well done that man.

Is Meow Meow the new Ecstasy?

Drugs are on my mind this week — and on my doorstep. After a night out clubbing, my two daughters, aged 19 and 20, tell me that the stimulant Meow Meow has arrived in the area, and if it has reached our sleepy market town in the Cotswolds then I suspect it is in your neighbourhood as well.

Meow Meow (mephedrone) is easily, and legally, bought over the internet where it is often advertised as plant feed. When taken as a tablet, or snorted as a powder, it gives a similar high to Ecstasy and abuse has taken off in the UK over the past couple of years.

The drug is likely to be one of the first items on the agenda for Professor Les Iversen*, the Government’s new drugs czar. Other “legal highs” such as BZP (a derivative of a worming agent) and GBL (paint stripper) have now been reclassified as Class C drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act, but mephedrone — and a similar drug, salvia or “herbal ecstasy” (the leaves of the Mexican plant Salvia divinorum) — are now under review.

Not a lot is known about the drug. It has been linked to one death so far in the UK — a 14-year old girl who took it at a party near Brighton — and there have been a number of people admitted to hospital with bizarre side-effects, including a teenage boy, who is reported to have had such severe hallucinations that he ripped off his scrotum.

It is difficult to put these reports in context without knowing how many people are using mephedrone and how they are taking it. It is not unusual for legal highs to be taken with copious amounts of alcohol and/or other drugs, including ketamine (known as Milton Keynes when mixed with mephedrone). Add in the inevitable variations in quality that occur with any black market drug, and it is very difficult to find out what people are actually taking.

Users of Meow Meow report an amphetamine-type euphoria that comes with mental and physical stimulation, talkativeness and feelings of empathy. Physical changes include dilated pupils, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, flushing and goose bumps.

And, despite the scrotum ripping story, most don’t report any significant hallucinations.

The effects start to become noticeable within half an hour of taking a tablet or within a couple of minutes of snorting the drug and last for anything up to four hours (less if snorted).

The downside includes a strong desire to take more, rapid changes in body temperature (sweating or chills), paranoia, palpitations, panic attacks and muscle spasms. A hangover the next morning tends not to be too much of a problem and it is not known whether Meow Meow is addictive — although a number of cases have started to trickle through into NHS drug treatment centres.

Although it is now legal to take the drug, it is illegal to supply it for human consumption which is why most suppliers advertise it as “plant food”. A Google search revealed more than 52,000 hits for the drug in the UK. I have advised my daughters to steer clear of the stuff (although both are at university and well past the age where they take too much notice of what I say).

Even if Meow Meow is comparatively safe, there is always the worry that it could be the start of a slippery slope. The evidence that legal highs, or “soft” drugs such as cannabis, lead to an inexorable path to more dangerous substances such as heroin, is patchy. It may in some, but will not in most.

Only time will tell how how risky mephedrone abuse really is. Many young people regard today’s concerns as propaganda, but it took decades to discover that cocaine (which used to be legal and an ingredient in Coca-Cola) is nowhere near as harmless as many users still believe.

A recent study in Spain into nearly 700 sudden deaths found that cocaine was responsible for around 1 in 30 of them — all of them in people under 45.

Drug abuse is endemic. If your son or daughter has not experimented with at least one drug then I guarantee that he or she will be mixing with people who have. But while drug abuse may be every parent’s nightmare, the vast majority of young people who try them will emerge unscathed from their dabbling.

And while focusing on drugs we risk looking past the dangers of alcohol. It may be only natural to worry about your child trying drugs, but the most dangerous one of all, in terms of its impact on the nation’s health, is both legal and freely available. And, unlike Meow Meow, likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.

*In a rather confusing move, the Government sacked the widely respected David Nutt as its key adviser on drugs after he questioned the tightening of legislation on cannabis — only to replace him with someone who once called for its legalisation.

Dr Mark Porter

My Favorate quote of the day…

‘THIS DRUB MENACE MUST BE BANNED’

“Sheriff Stein warned that people buying mephedrone via the Internet could not know what was in it and that it could be cut or contaminated with Class A drugs such as cocaine or ecstasy.”

Admin-

Because dealers always cut their goods with something more expensive! How nice of them. Really? I mean please!! Could you please tell me why a vendor would cut his cheap Mephedrone with something that costs 5 times more expensive!!? Oh, i know, maybe to make it go a little further?

I hope to think here that Sheriff Stein is talking in terms of cross contamination. I.e. a vendor bagging many different products in one room all at the same time. Which i feel is a highly unlikely situation. Most mephedrone vendors are just people who have seen this gap in the market to sell a drug & is unlikely to get prosecuted for it. They wouldnt go near Class A drugs.

Also, what is going on with the title of this article!? “‘THIS DRUB MENACE MUST BE BANNED’!

Read the actual article here. Just seems like a big mess to me.

Published Date:
15 January 2010
By Jennifer Newton
A 21-YEAR-OLD man who appeared at Arbroath Sheriff Court blamed new drug craze ‘bubbles’ for making him assault a police officer and threaten to kill himself.
Ghobhainn Thomson told the court he had only been taking the drug, also known as mephedrone, for three or four weekends, but in that time it had led him to feel paranoid and suicidal.

Thomson, Provost Reid’s Road, Montrose, also warned others not to take bubbles as
he says he became dependent on the substance despite taking it for only a short period of time.

The defendant’s warning comes just weeks after Arbroath Sheriff Norrie Stein had voiced his concerns in the Herald about the drug, which is claimed to be in widespread use in Arbroath and Angus and can be purchased legally on the Internet as a plant food chemical.

Sheriff Stein warned that people buying mephedrone via the Internet could not know what was in it and that it could be cut or contaminated with Class A drugs such as cocaine or ecstasy.

He also raised fears about the problems that could be caused by the effects which are said to give users a sudden high then a massive low.

Thomson, who appeared in court on Monday in front of Sheriff Stein, had been arrested on Sunday and charged with numerous offences.

He admitted that on January 10 at 3 Baillie Norrie Crescent, Montrose, he had conducted himself in a disorderly manner by removing a knife from a drawer and cutting his left arm before placing it on his throat and threatening to kill himself.

On the same day, he admitted that in Glenlethnot Place, he lifted a glass bottle over his head and threatened a police officer and then brandished a lighter and lighter fluid before threatening to set himself on fire.

He also pleaded guilty to another charge of assaulting a police officer by striking him on the body and said all his actions were brought on by taking bubbles.

Sentencing was deferred by Sheriff Stein until February 2 for reports and Thomson was granted bail on condition of keeping himself drugs and alcohol free.

Page 1

New drug on the streets – and it’s legal! Where have these people been?

New drug on the streets – and it’s legal
by KATIE BOWLER
A LEGAL drug which has an effect similar to cocaine and ecstasy is becoming ʻeven more popularʼ in East Staffordshire and South Derbyshire, Burton ʼs addiction centre has revealed.

Mephedrone, said to be the ‘next big thing’ on the drug scene, is thought to have arrived in Britain last year and has been obtainable in the area for about six months.

The white powder drug, which is rarely injected and usually snorted but can also be taken in capsule form, can be bought off the internet for as little as £5.

Some websites even offer a home delivery service, akin to ordering a takeaway.

Users say they feel more alert, confident and talkative and like cocaine, the effects appear to last around an hour before wearing off.

Mephedrone has a host of street names, including meph, 4-MMC, MCAT – which is the common name for the substance in Burton, Swadlincote and Ashby – drone, meow and bubbles.

To bypass the law, street and online dealers label the drug as plant food marked ‘not for human consumption’.

Many illegal drugs, including ecstasy, were first developed as medicines, a history involving tests which allowed scientists to gain some idea of the harm they can cause. Mephedrone does not have that scientific background and was developed in backstreet laboratories with no human testing, so the long-term effects are unknown.

Side effects can include excessive sweating, headaches, palpitations, nausea, cold or blue fingers, paranoia, hallucinations and serious panic attacks.

A spokesman for the service users’ committee at Burton Addiction Centre, in Station Street, said they had heard of the drug and that it had been around for some time.

He said: “This fairly new drug is starting to get bigger and more popular.

“It’s so cheap and easy to get hold of and has similar effects to MDMA.

“The substance is apparently available in our area for £20 a gram, and in some areas £15.”

The Government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has been asked to research the harms linked to legal highs such as mephedrone and is expected to report in March.

An EU agency, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, is also ‘following closely’ mephedrone’s growth.

‘Legal’ drug swamping Derry streets.

‘Legal’ drug swamping Derry streets – claim

Published Date: 15 January 2010

A ‘legal’ drug which can be bought over the internet is being used as a substitute to cocaine by people afraid of being targeted by vigilante group, RAAD, a former user has claimed.

Mephedrone, a grey/white powder which is sold as plant food, is swamping Derry’s streets with people buying it cheaply in bulk to sell.
The substance has been linked to a number of deaths in the UK and is currently sold ADVERTISEMENT
openly on various websites.ADVERTISEMENTBut
police in Derry have warned it will come under the Misuse of Drugs Act later this year.
George (not his real name), who is now receiving help for his addiction, said the drug is as dangerous as cocaine and easy to get.
RAAD

He said: “It started getting big in Derry about four months ago. I would have started taking it two months ago.

“I was taking cocaine at the time and I started using it as a substitute, which is why most people are using it. And because of RAAD, people think it is safer. It is more freely available too.

“I started taking the mephedrone because there was wasn’t much cocaine about at the time and anything that was around was not pure. So mephedrone came into the picture and I was introduced to it.

“When I took it, it was similar to ecstasy and then I started taking it as a substitute to cocaine. Instead of spending £500 a week I was spending £80. My friend was buying it in bulk off the internet from £75 for 10 grams and he would be selling it on for £35 a gram compared to cocaine, which is £60-£100 a gram.”

A number of websites selling the drug warn that it is not for human consumption, yet they sell the substance in 1gm and even 0.5gm bags. One website says: “If we suspect that any person wishing to buy mephedrone is intending to use the product for human consumption then we reserve the right to refuse to sell to that individual.”

George said he experienced highs with the drug but severe lows. He said: “By the end of it I was thrown into the depths of depression. It gives you really bad lows. It is potent stuff. You start off on a really big high and you could keep taking it but never reach the high again. It is like chasing the dragon.

“It is hard to say but if you were that way inclined it is addictive.
“Afterwards I felt really run down, tired, anxious and paranoid. It is similar to cocaine in that way. Most places I have been to with friends it is there. It is very popular at the minute and is taking over the cocaine scene.”

He added: “It is a war the government won’t win because all they do is change a molecule and the whole thing changes.”

‘Legal high’ drug mephedrone sparks A&E surge at York Hospital

‘Legal high’ drug mephedrone sparks A&E surge at York Hospital

9:49am Friday 15th January 2010
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By Jennifer Bell »

HOSPITAL staff are dealing with a surge of admissions from people experiencing the powerful “legal high” mephedrone.

The drug – commonly known as Meow, bubbles, M-CAT or 4-MMC – is not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and is available to purchase in some shops or through the internet.

The recreational drug – which comes in crystal, powder, capsule or liquid form, and has effects similar to that of amphetamines and ecstasy – has led to a rising number of users in the city being rushed to the accident and emergency department at York Hospital.

Symptoms include paranoia, anxiety, palpitations, increased heart rate and convulsions.

A York Hospital spokeswoman said: “We have definitely had people coming in to A&E having taken this drug, and these numbers have been increasing over the past couple of months.

“They are mostly people in their late teens or early twenties and they tend to be people who’ve been in nightclubs.

“The severity of their condition varies. However, we have had some people who have been seriously ill having taken this drug.”

She said the treatment varied depending on the symptoms presented, and said there was no specific treatment for the drug.

The Press reported yesterday that a pupil at Woldgate College in Pocklington collapsed at school after taking a “legal high”.

The teenage boy was taken to York Hospital after becoming seriously ill on the school premises.

Jeff Bower, the school’s head teacher, said it was working closely with the police and safer communities team to make sure his pupils knew about the dangers of drugs.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said anyone tempted by a “legal high” should be aware that they were “potentially very dangerous”.

“Effects are those of a stimulant somewhat like MDMA. It may produce euphoria, alertness, talkativeness and feelings of empathy – but also anxiety and paranoid states in some.

“We are having a high incidence of people being brought to A&E by ambulance who are suffering from the effects of this drug, to the extent that they are unaware of their surroundings and their actions, and it is causing people’s hearts to stop and them having to be resuscitated.”

Woldgate College pupil collapses after taking ‘legal high’

Woldgate College pupil collapses after taking ‘legal high’

10:30am Thursday 14th January 2010
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By Nicola Fifield »

A TEENAGE boy has collapsed at school after taking a party drug known as a “legal high”.

The pupil at Woldgate College, in Pocklington, was taken to York Hospital on Tuesday afternoon after becoming seriously ill on the school premises.

Jeff Bower, the school’s head teacher, said: “We can confirm that a sixth form pupil collapsed on site after taking a substance bought off site, as a ‘legal high’.”

He said the school was working closely with the police and Safer Communities Team to make sure his pupils knew about the dangers of drugs.

A spokesman for East Riding of Yorkshire Council said the teenager had since been discharged from hospital.

The incident follows the tragedy of 14-year-old schoolgirl, Gabrielle Price, from West Sussex, who died in November from a heart attack after taking the “legal high” commonly known as meow meow.

Despite it being illegal to sell these drugs for human consumption in Britain, they can be sold legally if advertised as plant food, and are available in shops and on the internet.

After a quick search, The Press found a website selling the “legal high” mephedrone for £7 for half a gram.

The company, Research Chemicals UK, stresses the drug is “not for human consumption” and anybody purchasing the product must agree to their terms and conditions.

York MP Hugh Bayley said he would write to the Government committee looking into “legal highs” to inform them about the case at Woldgate College and urge them to make it illegal to sell the drugs.

He said: “I’m glad this young man is now out of danger, but his experience shows why it is dangerous to buy mind-bending concoctions over the internet.

“I hope his lucky escape warns other young people not to take risks.”

York GP Dr Brian McGregor said “legal highs” were potentially deadly and urged teenagers to stay away from them.

He said: “You don’t know how your body is going to respond to them and they could have extremely serious effects on your heart and blood pressure – it is a very quick way to make yourself very poorly.

“It’s very usual to want to experiment with new experiences and new things when you are learning about life and going through your teenage years, but the bottom line is that drugs could kill you.”

Coun Carol Runciman, head of children’s services at City of York Council, issued the same warning.

She said: “Young people should be very wary of taking anything that is not prescribed for them by a doctor and in particular anything that is not designed for humans. It can have unexpected and sometimes fatal consequences.”