Child, 13, gets 'legal high' help

Some of the substances are used as an alternative to cannabis

Drugs advisers in Guernsey have seen eight people this year, including a 13-year-old worried about the effect of "legal highs".

The number attending clinics at charity Drug Concern is the same number as for the whole of 2008.

Some of the substances, which have been modified to circumvent current laws, have similar effects to class A drugs.

States officials say they are concerned about harm being caused by the drugs, but have been unable to ban them.

Shop closed

Herbal substances are smoked by some people as an alternative to cannabis.

Recorded side-effects of smoking the herbs include elevated heart rates and anxiety.

Jersey's authorities ruled last year that those substances were to be classified as medicines.

That meant it would be illegal to sell them in Jersey, leading to the closure of at least one shop in the island.

But Guernsey's laws do not allow officials to make that sort of ruling, meaning legal highs can still be bought and sold in the island.

Home Minister Geoff Mahy said his department was working very closely with the Health and Social Services Department on the issue.

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