Lincoln to ban public consumption of legal highs

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/24/lincoln-to-ban-public-consumption-of-legal-highs

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Lincoln is to become the first place in the UK to ban the public consumption of legal highs, after police in the city reported hundreds of incidents involving new synthetic psychoactive drugs.

The city council is to vote on Tuesday evening on whether to outlaw the consumption of any intoxicating substance, including alcohol and legal highs, in public places.

The wording of the proposed public order, which would apply only in the city centre, says: “Persons within this area will not ingest, inhale, inject, smoke or otherwise use intoxicating substances.”

The Labour-led council insists the plan is enforceable.

Sam Barstow, service manager for public protection and anti-social behaviour, said: “This new power gives the police and council the ability to deal with issues associated with the on-street consumption of these substances in a more flexible way.

“We are fairly confident of our ability to enforce, but we have agreed to review the order in six months’ time to ensure that it is having the desired impact. In areas like Ireland where they have introduced bans [on consuming legal highs] at national level, the evidence suggests that those bans have had a positive impact. I would urge policy makers to have a look at that.”

The council leader, Ric Metcalfe, said: “The council has recognised there is a problem relating to street drinking and the use of new psychoactive substances and welcomes the reform of antisocial behaviour powers, which has allowed us to be creative and adapt to emerging issues impacting the city.”

A survey by the Centre for Social Justice thinktank identified Lincolnshire as a hotspot for problems associated with the increased use of legal highs.

Lincolnshire police reported 820 incidents in 2014, the highest figure among the 16 forces that responded to the survey.

Lincoln council claims it has overwhelming public support for the proposed crackdown. Around 80% of respondents to a consultation on the plan said they had suffered problems caused by those consuming psychoactive substances.

Barstow predicted other councils would follow Lincoln’s lead if the plan succeeded. “I’ve got a list as long as my arm of other local authority areas that want contacting about the progress of our order. So there’s keen interest which would suggest they are suffering exactly the same sort of issues as us.”

The Local Government Association (LGA) is calling on the government to follow Ireland’s example by banning the sale of legal highs. A spokesman said: “There are currently more restrictions on buying a can of baked beans at a supermarket than there is on buying legal highs from a head shop. We think that is a complete and utter nonsense. We think that until radical action is taken nothing is going to fundamentally change.”

Councillor Ann Lucas, chair of the LGA’s safer and stronger communities board, outlined the current problem: “As soon as one legal high is outlawed another one, with a slightly different chemical composition, will spring up. Trading standards officers are doing a magnificent job trying to tackle this spiralling issue but, because the legislation is so inadequate, they are effectively fighting a war with one hand behind their back.”

Last year the UN’s drug agency reported an unprecedented growth in legal highs, with 348 new types of synthetic drugs appearing in more than 90 countries.