Legal High 'Burst' Outlawed after Hospital Admissions in Edinburgh
One of the UK's most widely-available so-called legal highs, which has left several people in hospital in Edinburgh, has been outlawed. The substance is called ethylphenidate but is better known as 'burst' and is one of five similar drugs to be banned. They now carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years. Burst has been used as an alternative to cocaine and has been widely used in the Capital, with 24 shops in the city selling it. The ban will last for at least 12 months while a more detailed study into the dangers takes place. Emma Crawshaw from the Edinburgh-based drugs support charity, Crew told Forth News, "I think this is the biggest change we have seen in drugs in this country for a long, long time. "People think if the substances are in the shops then surely they must be safe otherwise the police would have arrested the people in the shop and taken their stock away. "That is not the case, these are being sold for profit".