A new legal high has surfaced in which the Tory Crime Prevention Minister, James Brokenshire, has advised that they will fast-track bans on emerging legal highs.  Since the ban of mephedrone, also known as ‘miaow miaow’, new legal highs are begining to surface and if not careful, could potentially flood the market.  Brokenshire said:  ”We are going to change our drug laws so we can respond quickly to emerging substances by introducing a temporary ban while we seek full scientific advice.”

More than £40,000 worth of drugs has been uncovered in a mail sorting office in Belfast.  The haul included amphetamines, herbal cannabis, LSD, Diazepam and recently banned mephedrone.

Amnestys are being given out on mephedrone in that users could hand in the recently banned substance to any police station in order to avoid prosecution.  Humberside Police had given amnesty up to Friday midnight where no details would be taken.   Det Ch Insp Gerry Darling said: “By holding the amnesty we are recognising that until now people may have been using the substance within the law for some time.  However, it is now no longer legal and so we are allowing them the chance to get rid of it without the risk of prosecution.”

The parliamentary process for banning mephedrone and other cathinone derivatives in the UK has now completed with its illegal status as a Class B drug as of 16 April.

Ex-adviser of the Advisory Council of the Misuse of Drugs speaks out and writes in the Guardian-The Observer on her reasons for her resignation. Despite Polly Taylor’s sadness in leaving the organisation in which she commends the members as hard working and experienced, she criticises the Council for announcing their decision on mephedrone to the Home Secretary when in fact their report was still being considered by the group.

Taylor admits that her reasons for leaving were based on the recently published Principles for the Treatment of Scientific Advice where it allows for advisers to be fired on the grounds that a minister has made the decision that they are undermining trust. She states that ‘expert value is without value unless it is truly independent. It should not be given to ensure the trust of politicians or to fit the mood of the day’s press’.