Legal high victim’s mother urges publication of report

A mother who lost her child to legal high drugs is urging the Prime Minister to publish a Home Office review.

Maryon Stewart’s daughter, Hester, took a drug called GBL at a university party ‒ the drug was freely available and legal to take at the time. Hester went to bed as usual after the party; however, her respiratory system shut down during her sleep and she never woke up.

Mrs Stewart has subsequently founded the Angelus Foundation charity to raise awareness about the dangers of legal high drugs.

Campaigners against legal highs had hoped that a Home Office review would allow new measures to clamp down on the sale of the drugs to be introduced more quickly; however, it has been suggested by Home Office minister Norman Baker that the reports are simply being held, despite the fact that they were ready to be published in July.

Mrs Stewart wrote an impassioned letter to David Cameron, saying: “I cannot guess the reasons for such an important set of recommendations to be blocked, but I can tell you that the consequences are months of wasted time while young people continue to be exposed to these dangerous substances.”

She ended her letter by saying: “I implore you to overcome whatever the political issues surrounding the publication of this vital report so we can get on with exposing the myths around these legal highs and keep our young people safe.”