North East MEP Calls On UK To Join Europe-Wide Legal High Ban
More people will die the longer we stall an official ban on legal highs.
That's what the North East MEP has warned.
The Prime Minister has committed to tackling legal highs but plans to opt out of a Europe-wide law - which it's claimed could roll out much sooner.
Judy Kirton-Darling, North East MEP, thinks that’s a bad move. She said:
“Labelled as ‘not for human consumption’, these new psychoactive substances have effects that are wholly unpredictable and increasingly deadly.”
“Leading charities in regions like my own have called for legislation to close legal loopholes and take on the venders and the organised crime groups that exploit them.”
“As long as the council continues to stall on this desperately needed regulation, the death toll in regions like my own will continue to climb. We can’t afford to wait. The time to act is now.”
A Newcastle mum is pleading with the government to join the Europe-wide ban.
It's after she says her family has been put through hell because of her 16 year old son’s addiction.
Linda, whose name we’ve changed, tells us her son first bought the drugs for just £1 in the city centre. She said:
“We thought that he would either, die, be killed or kill someone else because of that drug.”
“It’s just too easily accessible here. If anyone from the law sees them and it looks like they’re not doing anything wrong, then nothing happens. Then something does go wrong, it’s drastic and it’s too late.”
A spokesman for Changing Lives, based in Gateshead said:
- "We are really pleased that Jude Kirton-Darling has raised the issue of NPS in the European Parliament.*
"She paid a visit to our offices recently and took a keen interest in the work Changing Lives has done on these so-called legal highs and she went away with a copy of our commissioned study into NPS use.
"Of course the Government is committed to making the sale of NPS illegal but it may be some time before that legislation is ready to be brought before MPs so we welcome anything that helps raise the awareness of the dangers of NPS.
"Too many people still think that the fact they are called legal highs and are attractively packaged with appealing names means that they are relatively safe. They most certainly are not. Serious adverse effects have included convulsions, coma, psychosis, kidney failure and cardiac arrest."
Find out more about the charity on their website: **