Legal high ban ‘is working but spikes expected’

The ban on so-called legal highs is working, according to one of the country’s leading child and adolescent psychiatrists, but “spikes” in usage are to be expected.

Dr Bobby Smyth said the use of headshop drugs by young people in Co Monaghan had been possibly due to its proximity to the North, where the substances are not banned as they are here.

However, the UK government is debating the merits of introducing laws similar to those introduced in August 2010 — and which Dr Smyth said had made a difference to the number of cases coming forward where legal highs are an issue.