Trading standards officers in Cornwall have taken part in a Home Office sampling programme to find out exactly what is contained in ‘legal highs’.
Staff bought products from a range of outlets across the county and with help from local police had them analysed.
Many were found to have products not listed on the packaging and were branded in a way that could lead to ‘confusion and misinterpretation’, the council said.
The sampling was part of a Home Office initiative that will inform a regulatory review into psychoactive substances.
Elizabeth Kirk, senior trading standards officer, said: ‘The increase in the use of so called legal highs is of great concern to both ourselves and the police, as these substances are as easily abused as illegal drugs, and unfortunately many users think that because they are legal, they are safe. Although all the samples tested on this occasion only contain drugs that are legal on the open market in the UK, many of them are illegal in other countries around the world.’
Cornwall Trading Standards is calling for all ingredients to be displayed on packaging and plans to warn people locally about legal highs.
‘Legal highs can carry serious health risks,’ said Geoff Brown, cabinet member for homes and communities. ‘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.’
