Legal highs ban: Dealers buy up drugs like 'hot cakes'

Fears are now being raised that a black market in dangerous so-called legal highs could sweep across the Black Country and Staffordshire in the wake of the Government ban on their sales.

Deadly Spice, Black Mamba and other substances were banned today under the Psychoactive Substances Act over concerns their use is linked to deaths and anti-social behaviour.

But the Express & Star can reveal that people have been buying in bulk in advance of the legislation coming into force, with one Bilston head shop worker telling us she sold 240 packets (9oz) to one customer for £1,200.

"Some people are seeing it as an opportunity to make money," she said.

"We had one customer this week who bought nine ounces. He was obviously preparing for the new law.

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"The problem with that is they aren't really regulating anything by banning it from the shops. It will just be a street drug."

The store worker, from Head-Quartez, added that the substances had been 'selling like hot cakes' in the last few weeks, although several stores around the Black Country had already stopped selling the drugs prior to the legislation coming into force.

We were able to buy three grams of legal highs, including Pandora's Box, which is often referred to as 'herbal ecstasy' and has numerous unpleasant side-effects including vomiting and stomach cramps.

Guidance on the packet, which features a ghoulish picture of a skull surrounded by a ring of fire, warns the substance is 'harmful if swallowed' and can cause eye and skin irritation.

In 2014 two teenage school pupils were rushed to hospital after taking the substance.

Another substance we bought was called Exodus Damnation – marketed as herbal incense and said to bring on hallucinations in those who use it.

The worker said, however, that the shop will now focus on selling its e-cigarettes and had stopped trading powder-based legal highs 'several months ago'.

In Walsall our reporter bought Sweet Leaf, a synthetic cannabis sold in one gram bags from the Happy Days shop.

Meanwhile in Wolverhampton city centre our reporter was told that dealers had already been offering Black Mamba for sale.

One addict, who asked not to be named, said: "Because a lot of the shops won't sell it, it doesn't mean you won't be able to get the stuff. There's always a way.

"All that will happen is that more people will end up buying from dealers in the same way they buy cannabis or heroin. You don't solve a problem by driving it underground."

The act banning the substances had been due to come into force in April but was delayed over concerns that it would not be enforceable by police.

The new legislation means there will be a blanket ban on the production, distribution, sale and supply of legal highs which are intended for human consumption.