The hidden dangers of legal highs

In the last five years, the market for legal highs has exploded. It's never been easier, or cheaper, to buy drugs online – but no one knows what's in them, or how dangerous they areFor most of the last decade, an average of four or five new legal drugs came on to the market each year. Trade was steady – government efforts were focused on fighting the spread of illegal substances. And then mephedrone appeared on the scene: cheap, legal and available online. By 2010, the drug, now dubbed meow meow by journalists, had become the fourth most popular drug on the market, after marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy. It was banned in April of that year, but not before a new market had emerged for online legal highs. In 2011, EU researchers found 49 new legal drugs for sale online. In 2012, 73 were identified; hundreds more were banned.To find out how effective the laws banning these new drugs have been, and how easy it is to buy them, I phone a lab in north-eastern China that supplies websites specialising in legal highs, and ask for bulk prices on synthetic cannabis products. A well-spoken man apologises immediately on hearing my English accent: "Sorry, I totally forgot it. I'll send it tomorrow – UK, yes?" I've never spoken to him before. Business is clearly brisk.He offers me 1kg of a legal, synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist (ie, a marijuana substitute) for just over £1,000. It is active at 1mg, meaning I would have a million doses that I could sell, legally, for around £25,...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: The Guardian Society Drugs Law Technology Features Drugs policy Internet Science Source Type: news