Legal highs analysed at Teesside University amid concerns about their use in prisons

The Prison Officers’ Association has raised concerns that staff in prisons are being put at risk because of the use of legal highs by inmates.

Legal high is the street name for Novel Psychoactive Substances. A particular type of legal high is a synthetic cannabinoid known as Spice, which has been highlighted as being responsible for increased violence and for making staff ill after they become inadvertently exposed to it.

Experts at Teesside University say the long term effects of the use of legal highs are currently unknown, but evidence has shown that some types can up to 30 times more potent than regular cannabis.

Gillian Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Forensic and Analytical Science at Teesside University, has been analysing and testing samples of Spice which have been found in regional prisons. She said its strength and type of compounds detected are cause for concern.

'It is estimated that the concentration of Spice as big as a head of a match stick may be as high as 30 times more potent than regular cannabis.

'The effects are far more severe, causing psychotic episodes, hallucinations and heart palpitations and when these symptoms are presented at A&E, it makes treatment very difficult.

'I think the long terms effects of legal highs are unknown at the moment. We have only really seen them in the last five years and the long term damage is not yet evident. What we do know is that in the short terms they are extremely dangerous.'

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