Medical problems caused by ‘legal highs’ continue

PEOPLE continue to present to hospitals with serious medical and psychiatric problems from former “legal highs” despite the crackdown on head shops, according to a respected doctor.

Brendan Kelly, senior lecturer in psychiatry at University College Dublin, said a series of research papers highlight the “substantial public health problem” presented by these drugs.

Mr Kelly, who is also editor-in- chief of the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, said there had been a “significant regulatory response” to the growth in head shops. “However, people continue to present to Irish hospitals with serious medical and psychiatric sequelae [abnormal conditions] following the use of substances such as mephedrone,” he said.