Pubdate: Thu, 26 May 2016 Source: Guardian, The (UK) Copyright: 2016 Guardian News and Media Limited Contact: http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175 Author: Alan Travis THE PARTY'S OVER? LEGAL HIGH BAN COULD END SHOP SALES ALMOST OVERNIGHT, POLICE BELIEVE Critics of Law Say Trade Will Simply Shift Underground Whipped Cream Chargers May Come Under Suspicion The blanket ban on the trade in legal highs which comes into force today is expected to end their sale through high street "head shops" and UK-based websites almost overnight, police and trading standards officers have said. But there are fears that the trade in new psychoactive substances (NPS) as they are officially known will move underground to illegal street markets and the darknet, the network of untraceable and hidden websites. The blanket ban on legal highs criminalises the production, distribution, sale and supply of psychoactive substances backed by prison sentences of up to seven years. Simon Bray, from the National Police Chiefs Council, said at the weekend: "Head shops are not always exclusively NPS, of course. Some are going to be selling other stuff so some may continue trading. But those which have built their business around psychoactive substances will reduce in number or cease to be." The ban comes in a week when four people were hospitalised after taking legal highs. The men, in their 30s and 40s, were found in various states of consciousness around Rochdale on Tuesday afternoon. Two people from a tobacconist had been arrested and the shop closed, said Greater Manchester police. Over the weekend, five men had fallen ill in the town after they had taken legal highs. The legislation is expected to deter head shops and other legitimate traders who will stop selling legal highs rather than risk prosecution. Possession by individuals will not be a criminal offence. The ban in England and Wales is targeted at outlawing the trade in synthetic chemicals designed to imitate the effects of drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy. The last official crime survey figures estimated that more than 937,000 people in England and Wales have used a legal high at some time, and 279,000 in the past year. Nitrous oxide (also known as laughing gas), salvia, and other substances that affect a "person's mental functioning or emotional state by stimulating or depressing their nervous system" are also covered by the ban. The term psychoactive covers such a wide range of substances that the legislation comes with an extensive list of exemptions including food, medicines, alcohol, nicotine and tobacco products, and coffee and tea. Home Office guidance to shops and other retailers appears to recognise that drawing a line between some household goods and banned legal highs is not always going to be easy. In one case study, it suggests that a man over 25 who wants to buy cream-whipper chargers, which contain nitrous oxide, and nothing else at 11pm should be asked the reason for his purchase: "The customer hesitates in replying and when they do they seem intoxicated slurring their words. In this scenario, the cashier should consider not selling their goods." A Home Office expert evaluation of a similar ban in Ireland, which came into effect in 2010, reported that a network of 102 head shops largely disappeared without the need for prosecutions as a result of the ban. A Eurobarometer survey suggesting that use of legal highs actually rose in the wake of the ban in Ireland was blamed on a small sample size. The number of people attending drug treatment services as problem users of legal highs has declined since the ban. The Home Office study also warned there was a risk that the sale of popular banned substances would move into criminal supply, either through internet, international retailers or organised crime and street dealers as had happened in Britain with the residual market in mephedrone. "In addition, any responsible retail practices, eg minimum purchase age restrictions employed by headshops, will be lost." The study also warned that it was likely that some users would move from legal highs to alcohol, illicit drugs and prescription medicines. The Local Government Association said councils had long called for the blanket ban: "We are aware of the risk that the sale of psychoactive substances will now move onto the dark web - a network of untraceable online activity and hidden websites - and would welcome the government putting additional resources into tackling the online threat," said Simon Blackburn. Steve Hynes, of the North West Ambulance Service, also welcomed the legislation, saying officers had seen a marked increase in the number of calls from people who had reacted badly to taking these types of substances. "Their symptoms can range from dizziness and nausea to confusion, cardiac problems and even death," he said. "Because there are so many different substances on the market, it is difficult for us to know how to treat someone as we don't know what chemicals they have ingested. This can delay treatment and have long-term consequences for the individual. We hope the introduction of this legislation will send out a clear message that when taking these 'legal highs' you are risking your safety and even your life." But a spokesperson for Transform, a thinktank concerned with drugs policy, said: "This act will end head shop sales, so politicians will have their visible PR success, but the markets will simply shift to unregulated street and online sales, increasing health risks and crime. "Similar bans haven't worked in Ireland, where use has risen to the highest in Europe, or in Poland, where poisonings from these drugs have increased." Karen Bradley, the minister for preventing abuse, exploitation and crime, defended the law saying: "Too many lives have been lost or ruined by the dangerous drugs formerly referred to as 'legal highs'. That is why we have taken action to stamp out this brazen trade. "The Psychoactive Substances Act sends a clear message these drugs are not legal, they are not safe and we will not allow them to be sold in this country." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom