Heartbroken mother to speak about dangers of legal highs

A mother from Aberdeenshire is planning to share the story of how her life has changed due to her son using legal high drugs.

Lindsay Schuitema is joining forces with the Fraserburgh Community Safety Group to raise public awareness of the dangers of the drugs, which are legally available to buy but are extremely dangerous to use. She will tell students at Fraserburgh Academy about how her life has been turned upside-down by her son using the drugs.

Ms Schuitema says that her son and his friends ‒ some only 14 years old ‒ had been talking about and buying the drugs, which are also known as new psychoactive substances (NPS). Describing this time as “heartbreaking”, Ms Schuitema explained: “There was nothing the doctors could do because they don’t know what they’ve taken, and there’s nothing the police can do because it’s a legal high. I’ve seen the extremes of it. The problem is that kids are seeing these things as legal, as if there’s nothing wrong with it. Although I couldn’t get any support, there is actually a lot out there. Just keep an eye on your kids. I just want them to be aware of these things.”

Ms Schuitema has recently launched an online support page for parents who find themselves in similar situations. She has the backing of Fraserburgh councillor Brian Topping, who states that raising awareness of the dangers of legal highs is one of the council’s major projects this year.