Synthetic chemical substances
that mimic traditional illegal drugs threaten the closure of hundreds of ‘head
shops’ across the United Kingdom.
About 450 high-street shops and
online sellers of legal highs will face closure or imprisonment up to seven
years under the blanket ban on psychoactive substances.
About 40% profit is what head
shops gain from £32m yearly profits.
The psychoactive substances
bill will receive its second reading on Tuesday. It may ban the trade in legal
highs from April the following year.
The bill will exclude alcohol,
tobacco, caffeine and other medical and scientific drugs for research given
they have the necessary permits.
Meanwhile, hundreds of
protesters gather outside parliament to protest while inhaling nitrous oxide as
the psychoactive substances bill covers nitrous oxide, which is the second most
popular recreational drug in the UK.
The Home Office attributes
several hundred deaths related to legal highs or new psychoactive substances.
They note that some of the 173 deaths in England, Wales and Scotland in 2013
were linked to legal high consumption.
An official impact assessment
said that only 29 of the cases involved legal highs.
