Westminster Council is calling for a crack down on legal highs, after a surge in the number of homeless people using deadly ‘spice’.
The council said 22% of people staying in its hostels used the drug in the first four months of this year, compared to nearly nobody two years ago.
The drug can cause severe psychotic episodes in users, including hallucinations, vomiting and seizures. The use of the drug has also led to an increase in the levels of abuse received by staff as users can exhibit aggressive behaviour.
Cllr Nickie Aiken, the council’s cabinet member for public protection, said: 'Spice is cheap, readily available and highly addictive, so it’s little wonder our support services are seeing an increase in the number of users. In just two years a new drug epidemic has taken over the streets of London.
‘We welcome the new Psychoactive Substances Act which came into effect this year, making it an offence to produce or supply former “legal highs” such as spice. But we need legislation to go even further, giving the police more powers to confiscate drugs from users as well as dealers, to be truly effective.’
