Civic chiefs across Hampshire have welcomed the news the Government is set to ban legal highs after scores of deaths in recent years

Parliament is today expected to announce plans for a blanket ban on all so-called synthetic drug ‘legal highs’ that have been blamed for scores of deaths across the country, including teenagers and young people in Hampshire.

If passed, the legislation would mean a successful end to the Daily Echo’s Say No to Legal Highs campaign launched two years ago calling for tougher laws, vendors and sellers to be held to account and tighter controls to stop youngsters buying dangerous substances over the counter.

The news is due to be announced during The Queen’s speech officially opening Parliament for the 2015/16 year and could mean the end for hundreds of ‘head shops’ selling legal highs and drug paraphernalia in the UK.

Home Office lawyers have drawn up laws that aim to ensure a watertight ban stopping manufacturers circumventing the system by making tiny changes to the composition of drugs to get around previous bans.

Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Hayes has backed our campaign since the beginning and said he was very pleased at the news.

He said: “I’ve been campaigning for this for a long time now. We will have to see the detail of the legislation following the announcement today, but I’m hopeful this is a start of removing these killer substances from our High Streets.

“These poisons are killers, and it is right Parliament acts to protect lives, especially of the many young people who, in ignorance, are tempted to experiment with these chemicals.”

Simon Hayes

Southampton City Council public health chief, Cllr Dave Shields, welcomed the news but said education programmes were needed alongside legislation to stop people going online for supplies.

He said: “I absolutely welcome this and it is something the Local Government Association has been campaigning on for a long while. I just hope it will be an effective action to reduce the tragic toll we have experienced here.

“It has to be more than a gimmick and what we don’t want to see is people going to the internet for legal highs as it is much more difficult to regulate and control. We need to look at a programme of education to make sure people know where to go for advice.”

Cllr Dave Shields

Royston Smith, recently elected Conservative MP Royston Smith also said the new laws had to be treated with caution.

He said: “These are demonstrably dangerous things as no one knows what is in them so it’s something the government needs to act on. If shops in the middle of my constituency are selling them then we can do something about it.

“But we have to be careful what we wish for because if it means we drive this underground and onto the internet it is going to be very difficult to police. Everyone needs to play their parts, including parents.”

Royston Smith

Meanwhile Dawn Roberts, Solent NHS Trust’s operational director for substance misuse services said they had seen a “worrying” rise in public use of legal highs.

She said: “Many people using these substances often do not see their use as problematic. We would hope any ban would highlight their dangers and perhaps encourage those taking them to seek treatment.

“The repercussions of taking legal highs cannot be underestimated. The components of these drugs are often unknown and ever changing.”

The psychical effects of legal highs range include increasing heart rate and blood pressure, rapidly increasing body temperature and causing comas or death, while they also have an impact on mental health including anxiety, hallucinations and in some cases psychosis.

A blanket ban on legal highs was included in the 2015 Conservative election manifesto, promising to do more to protect young people across the country.