Legal highs are apparently being used on top of pizzas

Drug workers have suggested that legal highs are being added as toppings to takeaway pizzas.

A substance misuse worker from Newcastle has claimed to have identified at least one of the city’s pizzerias using legal highs in this way. Whilst the substances themselves are legal, selling them for human consumption is illegal, with shops often labelling and packaging the drugs as plant food or incense to circumvent the law.

Legal highs are not known to be addictive; however, they can produce bodily and mental effects similar to those produced by illegal drugs such as cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine. A recent report suggested fatalities caused by legal highs are now reaching numbers previously associated with heroin abuse.

No official reports of legal highs being used to top pizzas have yet been made, but police in the Newcastle area state they are aware of this growing national trend.

Bruce Storey, temporary superintendent of Newcastle Area Command, said: “Should we receive information to suggest this is becoming an issue in our area, we will take swift action to investigate it further, working alongside our partner agencies. Using these substances, in the way they are intended or otherwise, isn’t safe. They have the potential to kill or have a devastating impact on someone’s health, as they often contain potentially dangerous chemicals. We would continue to urge people to steer clear of them however they are offered.”

Legal highs are allegedly more widely available in the north of England than anywhere else in the country.