‘Legal highs’ may be linked to more deaths than heroin by 2016

Deaths linked to legal highs could surpass those related to heroin use within just two years, a new report by a think-tank will say.

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) in Britain is to release a report this week calling for more to be done to combat the drugs, known as New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), while also calling for a “treatment tax” on alcohol.

Legal highs were linked to 97 deaths in 2012 and hospital admissions rose by 56% between 2009-12 in Britain, according to new CSJ data. The think-tank estimates that on current trends, deaths related to legal highs could be higher than heroin by 2016 — at around 400 deaths a year.