Users stock up to beat the ban on legal highs
Wednesday 8th April 2009, 2:30PM BST.
USERS of so-called legal highs were yesterday stocking up before local shops run out for good.
The commercial import and export of the substances was banned by the Home Department.
According to one vendor, who did not want to be named, sales responded immediately.
‘People have been stocking up today, definitely,’ they said.
Users could still import legal highs for personal consumption because they were readily available on the internet, the retailer said.
Customs and Immigration chief officer Rob Prow (pictured) said the idea of the ban was to stop their local sale.
The shop owner defended their right to sell the uncontrolled substances and said there had been no official guidance or consultation.
‘They just turned up last night and said “that’s it”. We were given no advice at all.’
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And when was the State debate on this subject.. and what is a legal high cuz my little boy get high eating chocolate ?.
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That’s a good point, when were these new laws considered in the States? Or was it deemed sufficiently important to waive the normal procedures, as in the purchase of the oil tankers?
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Oh great so within a week I can’t get drunk smoking Spice in the sunken gardens anymore.
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If these legal highs give the same result as the likes of cannabis why are they legal?
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Will the supermarkets have to stop importing coffee then?
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>>Will the supermarkets have to stop importing coffee then?<<
Only if teenagers start snorting it.
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I would like to see an answer to John’s comment.
If these legal highs give the same result as the likes of cannabis why are they legal?
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Prohibition of anything will just lead people to look for alternatives – you can’t change the desires of humans to get high just by banning something…so won’t this just encourage people to look for the real thing more?
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The law bans active ingredients. Cannabis is only illegal because of the active content.
It’s a bit hard banning the active ingredient in Spice as much of it is made from ingredients you find in the cupboard at home and recently developed chemical compounds.
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Precisely what chemical combinations are banned from sale and what are the given health risks of each? If the proven health risks are less than those of either tobacco, alchohol and caffeine then the wrong substances are being targeted. Have sufficient double or triple blind trial results been considered? Phil has asked why this subject has not been properly debated in the States. So far I have not heard an answer to this. Has a ‘name” of a substance(s) been banned from sale or specific chemical combinations?
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you could argue that if cigs and booze were invented last year, then they would not pass any tests for safety.
many cultures smoke drugs of one sort or another…brain damage or death is just a risk they take. much the same as driving a car with no form of yearly test to see if it is safe.
how far do you want to go?
i dont smoke, but i have passive smoked for years…will i get lung cancer? who knows.
i, like many other guernsey men binge drink. will i get ill? cancer of the liver? throat? etc etc.
at the end of the day..just let us get on with it. the PC brigade will be the end of us all.
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Why haven’t they banned tobacco then.. That a legal high and that would be good for the health of the Islander and our health service money.. and help everybody to give up in one go ??.
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conrad
The simple answer is that the majority of ingredients used in these substances are also present in food ingredients.
To ban the highs would have numerous consequences for the food industry. One would not wish to ban vanilla ice cream or a curry for example.
I feel it will be interesting to keep a close eye on what happens with reference to the cannabis trade once the authorities find a way to ban these substances all together.
It has been managed in many other countries. I can’t see how the authorities will be able to categorise each individual legal high. Once they do then ingredients and brand names will change and it will keep going around in circles.
The outcome will be kids will simply start to look for cannabis once again and the demand will be met with a supply chain.
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these products can be bought online legally, commercial import and export is what is banned. nothing has been criminalised for personal use.
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Let’s ban wine, cigarettes, coffee, chocolate, tea, red bull, coke… i could go on! Anything that people enjoy which isn’t exactly very good for you.
I agree with the banning of legal highs. Anything that has the same effect as cannabis shouldn’t be legal, but they need to let people have some enjoyment left in life….
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Perhaps Mr Prow would prefer everybody back on the smack like the good old days
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Why don’t all of you whingers grow up, get straight and get a life. Do you have any idea how pathetic you all sound, whining on about being deprived of your ‘high’. Go and get an education and find out what real life is all about – you might enjoy it more.
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whist i do agree with you Grown-up, there is a point to consider here, i myself have never taken or smoked drugs and i dont drink alcohol either, i never have done, im eduacted and i have a real life, but my son has smoked cannabis since he was quite young (without my knowledge) then stopped and switched to spice which he has been using for some time, now with this ban, he and many others like him will search out cannabis again. and youngsters that only started out with spice never tried anything else will now look for other drugs, things arent always black and white, there`s a lot of grey area`s to consider here!
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Grown-up has no idea,people will always seek a high, especially the young. this ban will only move then onto other substances, legal or not. drinking will increase, just hope it does not go back to the dark days of glue & aerosols.
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The Home Department ban a substance on the grounds that it is dangerous to health.
This is well publicised as a medical danger yet certain people have been stocking up before local supplies run out.
Just how thick have you got to be to do that ?
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yet again i agree stroller, my son said exactly the same , saying that youngsters will turn to glue and aerosols, there are plenty of children who do that now, it`ll just increase now they cant get hold of these legal highs.
and Ray, welcome to the youngsters world, its not a case of being thick, to them its a need so they are going to stock up. this is how the world is now, some people enjoy a glass of wine with their meal, others enjoy a chilled out smoke, i dont do either, but i wouldnt call anyone else thick for doing it
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The local Cannabis dealers will be rubbing their hands together and putting up prices as we speak.
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What I find so concerning about this whole thing is that there are people so desperate to get “high” that they will do almost anything, even risk their own lives to achieve it – even if they aren’t chemically dependant. I’m not talking about those who have a few too many beers now and then, I’m talking about those who are so desperate that if they can’t get Spice, will risk their lives sniffing glue or aerosols.
For someone to take such a huge risk to escape the reality of life demonstrates to me that something is fundamentally wrong, either with their perception of life or reality itself. Our priority should be to find out exactly what the problem is and, if possible, take action to alleviate it.
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Paul- There seems to be a growing number of youths who have this attitude, I know people just turned 18 who havent had a good night out clubbing if they can actually remember what they did!
There is a fundamental flaw tugging at the values of our society that is making kids want to behave this way, its sad and it casts a disturbing light on how happy they are by wanting this escapism.
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Shame on the shopkeepers who have helped the children of Guernsey stock up on spice,it makes my guts churn at their greed.
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just stop underage people getting it ,why dont parents do something ie sort there kids out ,
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Quote The Man “it casts a disturbing light on how happy they are by wanting this escapism.”
If someone is prepared to risk their life to escape reality for a short time, we have to conclude that they are not happy with life.
As my posts show I am not against leglislation on drugs however I think one of the problems we face is that we leglislate against the symptoms (e.g. drug abuse) without actually addressing the problem itself. It’s rather like treading on a nail and treating the wound without actually taking the nail out – the problem won’t go away until you treat the cause. Banning illegal highs won’t stop unhappy young people trying to get high – they’ll look for another way until the reason why they want to get high is addressed.
I’m interested to know what others think. Do you agree with my point? If so, what do you think the cause of the problem is?
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I smoked some Sharwood’s ’5 spice’ last night with the husband. It didn’t work.
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“If someone is prepared to risk their life to escape reality for a short time, we have to conclude that they are not happy with life.”
Not so. Human’s have been getting a hit from various herbs since the dawn of time. They just come in a packet now as opposed to running around in fields eating roots or whatever they did.
The natural extrapolation of that argument would be anyone who gets mildy merry from alcohol is unhappy. I’m not unhappy, I like my wine.
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Quote Jackie – “The natural extrapolation of that argument would be anyone who gets mildy merry from alcohol is unhappy. I’m not unhappy, I like my wine.”
Jackie I see your point however I don’t agree that is the natural extrapolation of my argument. Let me explain:
- First, getting mildly merry on alcohol is unlikely to put your life at risk.
- Second, I would argue that someone seeking to escape reality would do more than get “mildly merry” on alcohol.
Finally, may I refer you back to my previous post which says “I’m not talking about those who have a few too many beers now and then, I’m talking about those who are so desperate that if they can’t get Spice, will risk their lives sniffing glue or aerosols.”
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