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Legal Highs

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Releated terms: Plant food, NPS, New psychoactive substances, bath salts.

The Drug

The Effects

The Risks

The Law

The Drug
Overview Appearance Use
Overview

What are ‘legal highs’?
‘Legal highs’ are substances which produce similar effects to illegal drugs (such as cocaine, cannabis and ecstasy) but that are not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act. These new substances are not yet controlled because there is not enough research about them yet to ban. However, more and more ‘legal highs’ are being researched to see what the dangers are and if they should be made illegal.

'Legal highs' cannot be sold for human consumption so they are often sold as bath salts or plant food to get round the law.

Just the fact that a substance is sold as legal to possess, doesn’t mean that it’s safe - you can’t really be sure what’s in a ‘legal high’ that you’ve bought, or been given, or what effect it’s likely to have on you.  

The main effects of almost all ‘psychoactive’ drugs, including ‘legal highs’, can be described using three main categories:

  • stimulants
  • ‘downers’ or sedatives
  • psychedelics or hallucinogens.

 

Some drugs sold as ‘legal’ actually have been found to contain one or more substances that are, in fact, illegal.

 

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Appearance

‘Legal highs’ are normally sold as powders, pills or capsules.

The powders can range from white to brown to yellow in colour and from flour-like to little crystals in consistency. While the pills and capsules can range in size, shape and colour.

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Use

‘Legal highs’ tend to be snorted or swallowed, but there have been reports of some people injecting ‘legal highs’. Injecting any drug, including ‘legal highs’ – and sharing the equipment used for injecting, such as needles or syringes – runs the risk of the person injecting catching or spreading a virus, such as HIV or hepatitis C.

There is also the risk that veins may be damaged and that an abscess or blood clot may develop, which can cause further health problems, like infections and heart problems, possibly even a heart attack. 

The Effects

What are the effects of ‘legal highs’?
The main effects of almost all ‘psychoactive’ drugs, including ‘legal highs’, can be described using three main categories:

  • stimulants
  • ‘downers’ or sedatives
  • psychedelics or hallucinogens.

Whilst drugs in each of the categories will have similarities in the kinds of effects they produce, they will have widely different strengths.

  • Stimulant ‘legal highs’ act like amphetamines (‘speed’), cocaine, or ecstasy, in that they can make you feel energised, physically active, fast-thinking, very chatty and euphoric. However, they can make you overconfident and disinhibited, and can induce feelings of anxiety, panic, confusion, paranoia and can even cause psychosis.
     
  • ‘Downer’ or sedative ‘legal highs’ act similar to benzodiazepines (drugs like diazepam or Valium), and like cannabis or GHB/GBL, in that they can make you feel euphoric, relaxed or sleepy and reduce inhibitions and concentration, making you feel forgetful, and can slow down your reactions.
  • Psychedelic or hallucinogenic‘legal highs’ act like LSD, magic mushrooms and ketamine. They create altered perceptions and can make you hallucinate (seeing and/or hearing things that aren’t there). They can also induce feelings of euphoria, warmth, ‘enlightenment’ and being detached from the world around. However, they can cause confusion and panics. Some psychedelic drugs create strong dissociative effects, which make you feel like your mind and body are separated.
The Risks
What are the risks? Impurities Getting hooked
What are the risks?

What are the risks of ‘legal highs’?
Just the fact that a substance is sold as “legal” , doesn’t mean that it’s safe - you can’t really be sure what’s in a ‘legal high’ that you’ve bought, or been given, or what effect it’s likely to have on you.

The main effects of almost all ‘psychoactive’ drugs, including ‘legal highs’, can be described using three main categories:

  • stimulants
  • ‘downers’ or sedatives
  • psychedelics or hallucinogens.

Whilst drugs in each of the categories will have similarities in the kinds of effects they produce, they will have widely different strengths. Also, these three categories do not detail every reported risk of every ‘legal high’. In fact, for many ‘legal highs’, there has been little or no useful research into the short or long-term effects in people.

  • Stimulant ‘legal highs’ act like amphetamines (‘speed’), cocaine, or ecstasy, in that they can make you overconfident and disinhibited, and can induce feelings of anxiety, panic, confusion, paranoia and can even cause psychosis. They can put a strain on your heart and nervous system. They may give your immune system a battering so you might get more colds, flu and sore throats. You may feel quite low for a while after stopping using them.
     

  • ‘Downer’ or sedative ‘legal highs’ act similar to benzodiazepines (drugs like diazepam or Valium), and like cannabis or GHB/GBL, in that they can make you feel relaxed or sleepy and reduce concentration and slow down your reactions. ‘Downers’ can make you feel lethargic, or forgetful, and can make you physically unsteady and at risk of accidents.They may cause unconsciousness, coma and death, particularly when mixed with alcohol and/or with other ‘downer’ drugs. Some people feel very anxious soon after they stop taking ‘downers’, and if a severe withdrawal syndrome develops in a heavy drug users, it can be particularly dangerous and may need medical treatment.

     

  • Psychedelic or hallucinogenic ‘legal highs’ act like LSD, magic mushrooms and ketamine. They create altered perceptions and can make you hallucinate (seeing and/or hearing things that aren’t there). Some strong hallucinatory reactions (‘bad trips’) can lead to the person acting erratically, sometimes without regard to their safety. Some psychedelic drugs create strong dissociative effects, which make you feel like your mind and body are separated. Both of which can interference with your judgement, which could put you at risk of acting carelessly or dangerously, and of hurting yourself, particularly in an unsafe environment.

Many of these risks are increased if the ‘legal high’ is combined with alcohol or with another psychoactive drug. 

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Impurities

With illegal drugs, like cocaine, it is not unusual for the drug to be cut to add extra bulk so that the dealer can make more money. While this doesn’t seem to be the case for most ‘legal highs’, when you buy ‘legal highs’, you can never be sure that what you are buying is what you think it is or whether it has been cut with something.

Testing of ‘legal highs’ has been found  that some contained different substances to that expected, or contained mixtures of different substances, so even contained controlled substances, which meant that they were actually illegal to posses. This means that you could end up taking a ‘legal high’ which has stronger or different effects and risks than you expected.

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Getting hooked

Can you get addicted to ‘legal highs’?
Most stimulant and sedative drugs used recreationally have turned out to be addictive to some degree. Hence, regular use of ‘legal highs’, particularly those with sedative or stimulant effects, might lead to a compulsion to use (or even a risk of withdrawal symptoms on stopping).

 

Some people feel very anxious soon after they stop taking ‘downer’ type drugs, and if a severe withdrawal syndrome develops in a heavy drug user, it can be particularly dangerous and they may need medical treatment.

The Law

Are ‘legal highs’ illegal?
‘Legal highs’ are substances which produce similar effects to illegal drugs but that are not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Just the fact that a substance is sold as “legal”, doesn’t mean that it’s safe - regardless of any  “brand name”, the actual contents can vary greatly and you can’t really be sure what’s in a ‘legal high’ that you’ve bought, or been given, or what effect it’s likely to have on you.

 

 

 

 

Also, some drugs sold as ‘legal highs’ have been found to contain one or more substances that are, in fact, illegal. The truth is that you cannot be 100% sure what they will contain. 

A  number of substances previously referred to as “legal highs” have now be banned under the Misuse of Drugs Act, for example mephedrone. Being in possession of or supplying a controlled drug is an offence.

Did you know?
Like drinking and driving, driving while under the influence of drugs, including ‘legal highs’ is illegal – with some ‘legal highs’ you could still be unfit to drive the day after using. You can get a heavy fine, be disqualified from driving or even go to prison.

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