Evil of Black Mamba drug 'made worse' by ban - but should it stay illegal?

The former legal high was reclassified as a Class B controlled drug last May under the Psychoactive Substances Act, which intended to restrict its production, sale and supply.

But according to people working with drug users the problem has simply 'gone underground', with people paying more money to get hold of the drug through a flourishing black market.

Before it was outlawed Black Mamba, also known as Spice and Pandora's Box, was available to buy legally in a number of shops around the West Midlands.

Jason Spreckley, a development worker at Wolverhampton's Service User Involvement Team, said: "We have found that making the drug illegal has had no impact in terms of reducing the number of users that come to us for help.

"In fact the problem has got worse. Because there is less of it around the prices have gone up, meaning users are getting less for their money.

"This obviously has a detrimental impact on their behaviour, and brings the added danger that the drug is being cut with other harmful substances.

"This is an example of how making something illegal does not necessarily take away the problem."

West Midlands Police has warned there may be a potentially lethal batch of Black Mamba being distributed in Birmingham.

It follows the death of a 42-year-old man last week who collapsed in the street after smoking the drug. Last year Darren Scarlett was found dead in a canal in Wolverhampton after having taken the drug.

His death came shortly after the prevalence of the drug on the city's streets had been highlighted in a television documentary.

According to Mr Spreckley, many users of Black Mamba still say the drug is readily available. "As always happens when something is made illegal it has gone underground," he said.

"It is clearly still being manufactured and we hear of users ordering it off the internet, or buying from people who may have stocked up on it when it was criminalised.

"It has basically been taken off the shelves and put onto the black market."

Birmingham's homeless outreach team has called on the Government to reclassify Black Mamba from a Class B to a Class A drug, putting it on the same footing as heroin and cocaine.

But Mr Spreckley said it was vital more support was put in place for users who are hooked on the drug.