Legal highs cause four teenagers to be hospitalised

Police have reported that four teenagers from Doncaster have been admitted to hospital after taking legal highs.

The teenagers were all male and became ill over the weekend, leading to their hospitalisation on Saturday. Officers from the South Yorkshire Police were informed about their admissions due to the suspected cause of their conditions. All four boys have now been discharged from the hospital.

A spokesman for the police said that another teenager, a 16-year-old male, had been arrested in connection with the incident, suspected of supplying legal high drugs to under-18s. The boy has now been released on bail while the police continue their enquiries.

Dr Rupert Suckling, the assistant director at Doncaster Council Public Health, said it was a matter of concern that the four teenagers ended up in hospital after taking the legal high drugs, which are also known as novel psychoactive substances (NPS):

“We discourage the use of these substances, and are committed to doing everything we can to tackle this difficult problem using the powers at our disposal. We have worked hard to tackle the use of NPS in Doncaster, in partnership with South Yorkshire Police, Doncaster Trading Standards and others. Ultimately, our powers to act are limited by legislation, and this is an issue for government to address.”

Sergeant Carl Lindley warned that although the substances are legal to buy, they are not safe to use. He pointed out that there is no quality control and that ingredients vary from pack to pack.