Legal highs and club drugs and what you need to know

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Last week the Crime Survey for England and Wales announced some astonishing new statistics: that drug use amongst 16-24 year olds is in decline, with only one in five using an illicit drug last year; and cannabis use halving since 1998.

Also last week we heard of the death of 17 year-old Joe Bennet form North London who died of inhaling nitrous oxide, or laughing gas. He suffered a heart attack and brain damage, fell into a coma and died a month later. Only today, a 18year-old girl is reported to have added liquid nitrogen to her cocktail and is in a very serious condition in hospital with a perforated stomach.

What the Crime Survey statistics don’t reveal is that while use of cannabis (the most common of all drugs taken by this age group) is declining – and this is put down to people communicating more through social media rather than face-to-face, and the rising cost of cannabis – the ‘success story’ masks the rising use of legal highs and club drugs amongst the young.

‘Legal highs’ are drugs that mimic the effects of Class A drugs like cocaine and ecstasy. They are designed to be structurally different enough from these drugs in order to avoid being declared illegal. They are often advertised for use as research chemicals, cleaning agents and plant or fish food in order to sidestep medicines legislation; they are always labelled ‘unfit for human consumption’.

It’s not uncommon for legal highs to be mixed with Class B drugs, such as Mephedrone, and other dangerous substances. Legal highs are cheap, readily available from the internet and ‘headshops’. They are constantly being modified and actively marketed to a whole generation of young people who mistakenly believe that legal equals safe.

This could not be further from the truth. It is becoming increasingly clear that legal highs are far from harmless and can have similar, or even more serious,  health consequences to the drugs they seek to mimic. These risks are increased if used repeatedly or with alcohol or other drugs and include psychosis, bladder removal, seizures, coma and even death.

The problem is that most parents are totally unaware of the risks that their children face on a night out, or even round at a friend’s house.

I found out the hard way: I lost my beautiful 21 year-old daughter Louise to an accidental overdose of ketamine in March last year. She was a lively, talented, funny and gorgeous girl (see her picture taken on her last Christmas in 2010), dearly loved by all who knew her. She had been to Australia for a 21st birthday present and, after agonising about her future and working in fashion retail, in New Look and at London Fashion Week, she had finally decided to do a fine art degree at Chelsea College of Art. The night she died, she had just submitted her portfolio and application, celebrated by doing some gardening with a friend, and cooked supper for some mates; one of her friends brought some ketamine round and they carefully weighed out ‘safe’ doses.

None of them had the gumption to realise that Louise, who was not only small but had been away from the London party scene for so long and, in addition, was not a regular user like her friends, could not tolerate the same dose. The others left and she, unable to sleep still being high, took a bath and, as the anaesthetic effect of the ketamine took over, drowned.

Neither my husband nor I had any idea she took ketamine; we had spoken about the dangers of drugs but more of crack, cocaine and heroin, which she swore she would never take. Ketamine, like legal highs, is thought by the young to be harmless if taken ‘correctly’. What few of them realise is the long term damage ketamine does to the bladder, heavy usage leading to ulcerative bladder syndrome and,  in some cases, to the removal of the bladder.

Ketamine, like most legal highs, is one of the drugs of the moment, readily available on the internet, in clubs, and cheaper than alcohol.

Since Louise’s death I have been vocal in trying to spread the word; see www.louisecattell.com, the tribute site we set up in her memory, and which contains all the media and articles I have written. I have also become an Ambassador for the Angelus Foundation, a charity committed to raising awareness of the dangers of legal highs and club drugs. Next week we will be launching a national Find Out day, with a nation-wide media campaign in the press, on posters and online.

We will be reaching out to both young and old with advice and help. The Angelus website www.angelusfoundation.com contains hints and tips for parents, and suggestions for conversations you could have with your children to make sure that they are aware of the dangers of these so-called ‘legal’ drugs. I strongly urge you to have those conversations, even if you think your children are smart and street wise; I thought Louise was all of those things, but her death brought home to me the random nature of death from drugs, how each and every person is different and, as a result, no one can guarantee their own safety when playing Russian Roulette with their lives.

Here is a link to the Angelus film Russian Roulette which you might find helpful.

http://vimeo.com/43972614

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  1. Avatar
    vicky unwin October 09, 2012

    If anyone would like to attend all or part of Find Out day which is being held at Deutsche Bank on Tuesday 16th October 6-9 pm (with sessions involving local schools during the day), please contact me for details. After the formal launch, there will be refreshments and Mitch Winehouse and his quartet will play. Entry is free.

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