Pubdate: Sun, 17 Aug 2014
Source: Shropshire Star (UK)
Copyright: 2014, Shropshire Newspapers Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.shropshirestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2510

LEGAL HIGHS 'DEADLIER THAN HEROIN'

Deaths linked to legal highs could surpass those related to heroin 
use within just two years, a new report by a think-tank will say. A 
think-tank says there could soon be more deaths from legal highs than 
from heroin use

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) is to release a report this week 
calling for more to be done to combat the drugs, known as New 
Psychoactive Substances (NPS), while also calling for a "treatment 
tax" on alcohol.

Legal highs w ere linked to 97 deaths in 2012 and h ospital 
admissions rose by 56% between 2009-12, according to new CSJ data. 
The think-tank estimates that on current trends deaths related to 
legal highs could be higher than heroin by 2016 - at around 400 deaths a year.

Drugs such as meow meow and Benzo Fury have been outlawed by the 
Government but other substances, such as alpha-methyltryptamine (AMT) 
are still legal and new drugs flood the market quicker than they can be banned.

CSJ is asking police to adopt a similar policy to one used in 
Ireland, to close so-called "head-shops" which sell NPS, of which 
they estimate there are around 250 in the UK.

And the report will brand the Government's prevention programme FRANK 
"shamefully inadequate".

Meanwhile, the think-tank calls for a "treatment tax" to be added to 
off-licence alcohol sales to fund rehabilitation for people with drug 
and alcohol addictions, with a penny per unit levy funding recovery 
services costing UKP1.1bn in the next five years.

"Addiction rips into families, makes communities less safe and 
entrenches poverty," said CSJ director Christian Guy.

"For years full recovery has been the preserve of the wealthy - 
closed off to the poorest people and to those with problems who need 
to rely on a public system. We want to break this injustice wide open."

The Ambitious for Recovery report says 300,000 people in England are 
addicted to opiates or crack, 1.6 million are dependent on alcohol 
and one in seven children under the age of one live with a 
substance-abusing parent.

Every year drugs cost society around UKP15 billion and alcohol UKP21 
billion, researchers say, while the current system is too focused on 
managing addicts instead of weaning them off substances.

And addicts who refuse to deal with their issues could be docked 
welfare payments, although the CSJ proposes a "welfare card" to 
protect their families so that a proportion of benefits would have to 
be spent on food, clothing and travel.

The scheme would apply to parents dependent on alcohol or drugs who 
refuse treatment, while not having been in work for a year or more.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: " We are not considering a 
tax on particular drinks. Instead, we are reducing alcohol harm by 
giving local authorities a UKP5.4 billion budget to help them manage 
public health issues including alcohol and drug services. We have 
also banned sales oft the cheapest cut price alcohol."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom