Legal highs linked to referral of 20 youths to treatment centre

TWENTY young people have been referred to an adolescent treatment centre in Cork after using legal highs – including a 15-year-old boy addicted to the controversial compound mephedrone.

The young people have all been referred to the Matt Talbot Adolescent Centre since March and, in addition to legal highs, have a range of problems including alcohol and illegal drug use.

According to the centre’s clinical manager, Edel Foley, 19 of the young people referred to the service were using mephedrone – which has already been banned in Britain but remains on sale in head shops here.